People-Watching
by Quietly Something
Summary: A pseudo-route for one of KS's many background characters, Naomi Inoue. At the last minute, Hisao is recruited into the newspaper club out from under Shizune's nose, only to quickly find himself in over his head. (On hiatus for the time being. Thanks for understanding all! Mwah)
1. Act 1 - A Completely Chance Encounter

**Author's Note:** I've been looking forward to doing something else for Katawa Shoujo that was a bit more long-form and on a chapter-by-chapter format, after my last fic that is. Given that this is a pseudo-"route", I'm hoping to do my best to follow the formula of KS and make something that feels natural for it. At the same time, I'm happy to use a character like Naomi to give me the opportunity to branch out a bit do something a little unique!

This story starts off in Act 1, the day that Hisao finds himself in the middle of Lilly and Shizune's spat. This chapter is an encounter that takes place as Hisao returns to his dorm after class, rather than running into Rin working on her mural as he normally would then.

Thanks for reading, as always, and I appreciate any feedback!

* * *

 **Act 1: Life Expectancy**

I wonder if it's easy to blend in.

Right now, standing by myself on the school grounds amidst the crowd of students, I feel uncomfortably aware of the fact that I stick out like a sore thumb.

It feels almost unreasonable to say it after such a short time here, but I'm overwhelmed by the people here. I don't want to think of myself as antisocial, but I can't remember the last time I felt so tense just having to interact with strangers. I could chalk it up to my four months locked away in the hospital, but I know that would be dishonest (although that certainly hasn't helped make me any less lethargic).

What's really overwhelming is the elephant in the room: the one I feel more acutely aware of than anyone else here, it seems. I've been cast into the jungle, where almost everyone has to worry about a disability of their own, and every time I start to feel like I understand how to act about it, something new happens and makes me realize I've been doing it all wrong. One day, I do my best to avoid even looking at Hanako's scars, and I scare her off regardless. The next, though I say nothing to initiate it, Rin asks me what's wrong with me outright. It's hard to say which situation is more awkward, but nevertheless both made me realize exactly how out of my element I am here. Am I supposed to think about my problems- and everyone else's? Am I supposed to pretend things aren't the way they are? It's hard for me to believe that everyone can have a different way to approach this and still manage to coexist without any issues.

And yet, it doesn't seem to be a problem for anyone but me, undoubtedly because I haven't been here long enough to learn the rules. Just watching the students on the grounds is a little disorienting simply because of how _normal_ the scene looks.

Every third student has some kind of glaring physical disability- a cane, or a wheelchair, or something- and they simply make themselves part of a crowd like normal. Everyone seems to be able to blend in, and I suppose that's just a matter of time, but it feels like a farce to me. It's strange to say, and it makes me feel a little guilty, but every time I see someone that looks healthy on the outside, the first thing I think is, 'what's wrong with them?' It seems impossible not to- I wonder if everyone does that with each other here.

I wonder if that's what people do when they look at me.

"What are you looking at?" asks a voice from somewhere behind me.

It's loud- low-pitched and harsh, but distinctly feminine. By all accounts, it should have gotten my attention immediately, which just goes to show how truly lost in thought I was.

I turn barely to the side, wondering absentmindedly where the noise came from without even considering that it was directed at me, and am immediately jolted out of my daydream by a girl's face, positioned barely two inches from my own.

She laughs boldly, taking my own surprise in stride, and takes a few steps back, throwing her arms out to the side as though daring me to ask her to repeat herself.

…What was the question again?

"Nothing," I respond quietly, rubbing the back of my head with some embarrassment. "That's some way to introduce yourself."

"Introduce myself? I have to introduce myself?"

"Well, that's what people usually do when they meet someone else for the first time."

She squints at me harshly for a moment or two in a way that reminds me of Shizune, as though I've broken some unspoken rule of hers. "I'm going to chalk it up to context, because you should already know who I am. I'm in your class."

With one hand, she throws her hair out to the side, making a bizarre theatrical gesture to grab my attention as though it should help me to remember her name better.

She has one of the few heads of blonde hair that I've seen so far at Yamaku, and it immediately reminds me of Lilly. Unlike Lilly, though, whose aesthetic comes off as effortless and natural, this girl's hair looks like an art project, as though she spent a considerable amount of time in front of a mirror trying to get it to look that way. Not that it looks bad- actually, it's kind of cute- but I can't help but wonder if she walks around hoping she'll overhear people talking about it.

Actually, that's the impression she gives me altogether, considering her theatrical mannerisms and tone of voice. I guess first impressions are important to her? But apparently this isn't supposed to be my first time meeting her.

I've been staring at her for an awkwardly long time now, and I realize that I am not anywhere closer to remembering her name, or in fact recognizing her at all, than I was when we started this conversation.

Her disappointed pout tells me (with no subtlety whatsoever) that she is clued into this. "Naomi Inoue," she says pointedly, placing her hands on her hips. "I sit in the back, next to Hanako- who, incidentally, I have seen you staring at in class on multiple occasions over the past few days. So how _I_ could be such a mystery to you, I have no idea."

That does sound right, come to think of it, but I am immediately distracted from that by her comment about Hanako. Have I been staring? Is it that obvious? That seems like a fairly serious transgression. Nobody has mentioned it to me in class, not even Hanako herself- but then, would I really expect her to, if she noticed? That kinda stings, as it's something I've been really conscious of after our encounter in the library.

"Oh," I say sheepishly.

Any illusion of wit I may have been giving off has immediately dissolved, along with my self-confidence. Naomi still seems to have it in spades, and it makes it hard to keep up with her.

I feel like I'm being tested, as though Naomi is deliberately trying to get under my skin to see what I'm willing to challenge her on. I don't know why she expected me to know her name, considering we haven't spoken a single time since I got here. But then, if her goal is simply to bother me, it's possible she has been bluffing entirely. For a single, fleeting moment of pride, I am tempted to call her on it, and then…

"…You are Hisao Nakai, if that's what you were waiting for," Naomi says curtly, reading my expression with uncanny accuracy. "I know everyone in our class. Almost everyone in the school, in fact. And you're an easy one in particular."

"Easy how?"

"Everyone knows you're the new kid because you have been wearing it all over your face for the past week. You look half-asleep and lost pretty much all the time."

I feel myself touching my face almost unconsciously. It's not something I'd thought about before, but it would certainly make it harder to blend in…

"Can I help you with something, Naomi?" I ask after a moment, now feeling a tad defensive.

She nods briefly, glancing to my side as though to confirm we aren't being watched- the kind of thing Kenji seems to do every time I talk to him. Then, much to my confusion, she purses her lips and avoids the question entirely. "Do you write poetry? Like, in a journal?"

She looks completely earnest for the first time.

I'm at a loss. "What?"

"You do, don't you?"

"Why would you ask me that?"

"Because I'm pretty sure I'm right."

"Well, you're not."

"You don't write poetry?"

"No."

"Damn." Apparently that was the wrong answer. With pursed lips, Naomi wanders a few steps away from me as though abandoning me, then stops herself and flips around again. "Not even a little?"

"No. And what does it matter to you?"

"I just thought I had you pegged. But I guess not."

I almost don't want to ask, just out of defiance, but my curiosity gets the better of me. "But why poetry?"

"Well, you're quiet, and you spend a lot of time staring off into space like you're deep in thought. Which is what you were doing before we started having this conversation."

Wait, how long has she been watching me? I don't think I've ever felt so self-conscious talking to someone I just met before. "That doesn't mean I-"

"-But you seem kind of mouthy, and you're not afraid to talk to girls, so I don't think you're just some kind of impassive weirdo or shut-in or something. Aside from that, you've been letting Shizune drag you around by the ear, so I figured you were probably the kind of person who bottles up your complaints and resentments in order to avoid conflict, and so that led me to poetry. It's the kind of hobby for a person that stares out into space a lot, as you do, so it adds up." She taps on her chin, running through her spiel in her head again as though checking her math, then nods and looks me in the eye. "Does that answer your question?"

"Uh. I guess so. It doesn't really make it seem any less strange, though."

"There's nothing strange about paying attention, Hisao. I know you've been doing it, too; you're just more selective about it. Besides, it's my job."

"Your job?"

"You ask too many questions."

"You keep saying things that don't make sense." I hesitate for a moment, but it feels unnecessary to try and hold back in order to be formal. "…And, as a matter of fact, I get the feeling you're doing it because you _want_ me to ask you questions."

Naomi immediately grins from ear to ear at that… so, apparently that was the _right_ answer. "See, like I said. That's called paying attention. People aren't so hard to figure out, if you put the effort in."

"You don't seem to have me figured out at all," I reply with a small shrug.

"You're right about that, and I have to admit, it is intriguing…" she says thoughtfully. "But you haven't been here long, so I will allow myself some time."

I briefly glance over my shoulder. The dormitories are so close, and yet at this rate I may never reach them…

"This is kind of an awkward place to be having this conversation, don't you think?" I ask quietly, hoping Naomi will take a hint.

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," she sighs, gesturing away from me. "You going to the dorms? We'll go together."

"Oh. Sure." Great, great. That was exactly what I meant.

Resigned, I take off along the path toward the dormitories, and Naomi is only too comfortable throwing up her hands and walking alongside me. She seems like the kind of person who wants to be friends with everyone, and I guess she has presumed that of the two of us already, but even still I can't help but feel like there is some special reason I am being targeted right now.

"So, if not poetry, what _do_ you write?" she asks presumptuously, briefly glancing over at me again.

At this point, I simply assume my answer will not satisfy her. "I don't write anything."

"You're kidding me."

"Nope. I read a lot, but I don't write."

"Well," Naomi replies, after a moment of thought, "isn't reading basically half of writing?"

"I don't think so. They don't exactly require the same thing out of you."

"Have you ever tried it?"

"I haven't written anything, outside of schoolwork, in as long as I can remember."

I shrug hopelessly, but she seems completely undeterred. Any line of questioning is enough to make me suspicious, but something about this in particular…

"Naomi, where are you going with this?" I stop short as we make our way to the break in the path between the two sets of dormitories.

Naomi, apparently hoping to quash my suspicions, throws up her hands in guilt, smiling shadily. "Are you going to join the Student Council?"

And, suddenly, it all comes together. I have to admit, I would have expected something more subtle and tactical, but I suppose their time is running short before the festival.

I narrow my eyes accusingly. "Shizune!"

Naomi seems genuinely surprised for a moment. "What about her?"

"She put you up to this!"

Naomi, though clearly amused, puts on her best mock-offended face. "She most certainly did not!"

I'm not buying it. "You can tell her that I have put in enough work for them to at least be allowed more time to think about it."

"I'm not here to nag you for the Student Council, believe it or not. Quite the opposite, in fact." She grins confidently, obviously doing her best to build up the suspense. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't finished dragging your feet with Shizune and Misha. I was only hedging my bets because you don't seem to like making commitments."

"In that case…"

"The newspaper club!" Suddenly invigorated, she reaches one arm behind her and slings her small backpack in front of her in order to dig through it. "If you're looking for a club- and I know you are- it could be a really good fit for you!"

The newspaper club? I've looked at a lot of different activities at Yamaku so far, but that's one that never even occurred to me. At my old school, I was only barely aware that we even _had_ a newspaper, let alone what they were publishing in it. But then again, that was before I started reading as much as I do now…

Even still, I wouldn't even know the first place to start with a club like that.

"I said I don't write, Naomi," I say patiently, taking a step toward the male dorm. "I haven't even looked at the school newspaper since I got here. Sorry."

"Hang on!"

Before I even get the chance to turn my head, Naomi leaps forward and thrusts a loose bundle of papers into my arms, which I am only barely able to keep from falling apart and spreading over the ground. Evidently it's an issue of the newspaper, but it must have come apart in Naomi's rush to pull it from her backpack.

"If you haven't made up your mind yet, don't you think you ought to at least consider all your options? The great thing about the newspaper is that people with all different kinds of skills can work on it! That's what makes us a good team! And that's what makes it fun!" Naomi declares, crossing her arms as I straighten out the papers in my arms.

Briefly glancing at the cover, I have to admit that it looks a lot more professional than I would have expected. If Naomi is any indication, I assume that the members of the club here are a lot more passionate about the work than whoever was responsible for the newspaper at my old school.

"It looks good," I say passively.

She perks up immediately. "Thanks! So you'll think about it?"

"Huh? I didn't say that!"

"Damn, I thought that might work on you. You are a tough one."

She raps her fingers together, still hanging around for me. I can tell that there's no way I'm getting out of this without finding some way to explain myself.

"Why do you want me in particular, though?" I ask. "You could ask anyone from our class about this."

"Alright, do you want the formal answer, or the real one?" Naomi asks with a shrug. "'Cause the formal answer is, there aren't many upperclassmen that are looking to join a club at this point in the year. But seeing as you're a transfer student…"

"So what's the real answer?"

"The real answer is, it's because _Shizune_ wants you."

She narrows her eyes mischievously, waiting for me to ask, but I absolutely don't intend to. After Lilly and Shizune's argument earlier today, I think I have had more than enough of being caught in the middle of Shizune's feuds.

Naomi doesn't wait up for me. "This is the value of paying attention, Hisao. Shizune likes to single people out, and it's important to know who those people are. Because she is good at finding the potential in people like nobody else."

I know when I'm being pandered to, of course, but that said… it's a nice compliment.

"So you're out to snatch me away from Shizune and Misha, then."

"Only because it is in the best interests of our club!" Naomi adds defensively. "And admittedly, we are a little bit understaffed at the moment…"

"You sure chose an odd time to do it, with the festival coming up."

"Is that really what you're worried about? Ugh, fine. Let me make you an offer, then." With no warning, Naomi storms up to me to put us face-to-face and looks me straight in the eye, prodding a single finger onto the newspaper in my arms without breaking eye contact. "Read. You have all day for this."

Surprised, I take a step backwards, trying not to look too embarrassed by her forwardness. "That's more of a demand than an offer."

"Everyone is meeting tomorrow afternoon, after class," she continues, ignoring me. "If you're interested, come with me. You can meet everyone at once and see what the work is like. It's pretty busy, since we have to do an entire issue just centered around the festival."

"Well, what if I'm not interested?"

"Then, by all means, feel free to do chores for Student Council instead. I can only imagine how busy they must be."

I'm quiet for a moment. Naomi raises an eyebrow at me.

"…That sounds fair enough," I respond, finally.

"I know it does." She takes a step back, putting an arm through one of the loops on her backpack. "Tomorrow, then."

"Sure. I'll see you in class."

She looks me over one more time, finally satisfied with the results of our conversation, and then shoos me with one hand. Almost instinctively, I turn to leave. Naomi gives off an air of authority, so much so that it's almost intimidating.

I hear her laugh from behind me as I walk away. I don't turn to respond, but she calls after me anyway.

"Read, Hisao!" Naomi says loudly, taking one step towards the girls' dorm, but still looking after me. "That paper has my name written all over it, so you've got no excuse not to know it now!"

I slip into my own dorm shortly after, happy to have a moment just to breathe. That was certainly a lot to take in at once.

Naomi Inoue. As though there is any chance I could forget her name now, after that.

I straighten out the newspaper in my hands, which I crumpled a little by accident. It's nice to have a new prospect, even if I'm not optimistic that it will work out. But my mind is somewhere else entirely right now, almost to the point of being overwhelmed.

Just who in the world _was_ that? Normal, and yet… anything but.

I can't help but wonder what's wrong with her.


	2. Act 1 - In the Newsroom

Over the course of two days, I've managed to set everyone's expectations unreasonably high for me, and then proceed to immediately fail to meet them all. After the mess I made of myself on the track this morning, it looks like I am going to end up either as the unmotivated whipping boy of the Student Council, or Emi's pathetic running pseudo-partner. It's not that would have any problems spending more time with Shizune and Misha, or with Emi, but the strings attached are absolutely headache-inducing.

This is normally the point where I would just hide in the library and read to take my mind off things, but of course that would mean running the risk of running into Hanako again. And though I'm sure she would be _delighted_ to run into me, my discomfort with the prospect is just enough to deter me from returning to the library today.

So perhaps that is why I find myself, on a Friday afternoon, during my first free moment all day, actively seeking out Naomi for conversation.

She seemed convinced yesterday that reading the newspaper would make me want to join the club, but while I did spend a long time flipping through it in my dorm, I ultimately found it more boring than enticing. Maybe I'm just not a flexible reader, but I find it hard to sit down and read an article about local events or academia when I have a perfectly good story I could be reading instead. Reading is supposed to be a form of escapism, right? If I wanted to know all the intricacies of preparing for the school's festival, I could just talk to Shizune.

Naomi is one of the very first people to head for the door at the end of class, and my rush to catch her on the way out of the classroom prompts a scornful glare from Shizune.

"Hi, Naomi," I say passively, to get her attention.

She glances briefly over her shoulder and smiles at me, not stopping to chat. "Oh, hi, Hisao."

"Uh, are… you…?"

"Ah!" With a dramatic fist-pump, Naomi skids to a stop along the wall just outside 3-3 and turns toward me with an inordinate amount of enthusiasm. "You want to come to the club meeting after all!"

She's not asking, but I don't know whether she's right or not. It's not really the club I'm here for, after all, not that I had any other particular reason to stop her on the way out of the classroom. I know it would probably be prudent to let her know right away that I'm not interested so as not to get her hopes up, but she seems so excited to see me that I don't have the heart for it.

"What made you think I didn't?" I ask defensively, leaning against the wall next to her to get out of the way of foot traffic.

"Well, yesterday I thought you may have just been trying to get rid of me. And then you never mentioned it to me in class this morning, and you seemed like you were in kind of a shitty mood, so I decided not to say anything about it." She hesitates for just a second. "Uh, no offense or anything."

"None taken."

Mostly just because I'm not eager to get into a conversation about how my morning went. It actually is kind of a rude thing to say, but, to be fair, I probably would have avoided me today, too.

"So, you've got me here. Want to come meet the gang?" She flashes me a friendly smile for a moment, then steps away from the wall and straightens out her skirt.

"That's why I came, isn't it?"

"I don't know, is it? You could have just come here to tell me you aren't interested. Or are you the kind of person that would rather keep someone waiting than reject them outright?"

I snicker at that, and Naomi raises an eyebrow at me in response. I guess she was genuinely asking, though it struck me more as an accusation. "No, I don't think I would do that," I say with a shrug.

"I didn't think so." She puts a finger to her chin and sighs, like she forgot what she was talking about. "Alright, come with me. No use in standing around."

Without waiting for a response, she takes off down the hallway, forcing me to hurry to keep up with her before losing her to the crowd. She never even bothered to tell me where we are going, and yet she still asserts this confidence like she expects me to unquestioningly fall in line with her. I think she gets a thrill out of keeping me in the dark.

"The newspaper club is one of the smaller ones, and we don't do a lot of advertising like they do for baseball and the book club and all that, so there aren't a whole lot of us. But that means everyone in the club knows each other, and gets along… for the most part." Naomi descends the staircase to the lobby, glancing briefly behind her only to make sure I'm following behind. "I like to think of us as more of a team than a club, y'know? Everyone does the work that suits them best, based on what they're good at. We're like a real newspaper!"

She gesticulates frantically in front of her, even though she's facing away from me. It seems like she could talk about this for hours without any input from anyone else. I'm actually kind of impressed to see someone so invested in their club activities, which is yet another thing that reminds me of Shizune. Come to think of it, I'm surprised they aren't haranguing _her_ to be in Student Council.

We reach the lobby, where the crowds in the halls are finally beginning to spread out as people head in different directions. Naomi hesitates for just a moment, then spins around and points behind my head, directing me down a narrow hallway I'd never even noticed before. Before I can even take one step, she brushes ahead of me and waves her hand for me to follow.

"You sure are setting my expectations high for this," I say with a smirk, though it's lost on her.

"Don't sound so skeptical."

We reach the end of the hall, and Naomi turns to the door on the right at the far end, just before the supply closet. None of these rooms look like standard classrooms, and it's so out of the way that I'm surprised anyone even goes back here.

She places one hand on the door handle, takes a second for a dramatic pause, and then thrusts the door open, causing a loud clatter as the door smacks against the wall on the other side.

The room, which is much more spacious than I expected considering the hall that led to it, is a pretty standard computer lab. Four rows of tables to the left of the entrance are lined with computers much like the ones I've noticed in the library, and centered next to it is a long wooden conference table. Seems a little over-the-top to me, but I suppose if they use the room for club work it makes sense to have.

Naomi steps in before me and throws up her hands victoriously. "I _got_ one!"

…I hadn't realized she was going to put me on display, and I feel myself blush momentarily, even for as mundane as my entrance is. It only lasts for a moment, though, as it quickly occurs to me that there are only four other people in the room, and none with Naomi's level of enthusiasm. I suspect that I was probably right to be skeptical of her.

Everyone looks about as normal and nondescript as the majority of the student body- not one of them has any obvious physical disabilities, so I guess I should probably fit in pretty well with them. There's another girl from my class here, a brunette girl with glasses who sits next to Naomi in the back of the room, but other than that, I don't recognize any of the faces. There's also a teacher sitting at the end of the long table, though he looks barely awake. It's nowhere near as grand or exciting as Naomi would have had me believe.

The room barely responds to Naomi's declaration of victory, outside of a few brief glances upward. I wave my hand awkwardly and get nothing in response.

"We need someone to do formatting. Can he do formatting on the front page?" asks a black-haired boy on a computer in the furthest row, not even bothering to look at me.

"Today, he is just observing," Naomi replies curtly, wandering over to a seat at the conference table and leaving me alone at the entrance. "You just had to ask, huh? Where's Takashi? He was supposed to be doing that."

"Where do you think?" the boy responds with irritation. "Somewhere else. Other obligations, I suppose. This isn't the only club he's in."

"But he said he would be here! Everyone was supposed to show up today!"

"You should have known that wasn't going to happen."

Takashi… that name sounds familiar, and I rap my fingers on the desk as I try to picture the faces of my classmates.

"Takashi? Isn't that the guy with the… thing… on his ear…?" I trail off, embarrassed that his disability is the first way I thought of to describe him.

"Huh?" Naomi seems confused for a moment, and touches her ear to mimic me. "Oh! Maeda? From class? No, no, that guy's in the art club… much too creative for _our_ Takashi."

Feeling a little out of the loop, I briefly glance around the room again and take a seat at the table next to Naomi, hoping to have more of an introduction.

"So, uh, is this… everyone? Besides your Takashi, I mean?" I ask quietly.

"Oh!" Naomi spins around in her chair, like she just remembered I was here. "Yeah, everyone else is here! This is Hokuto Watanabe. He's got the second most seniority in the club, behind me."

Hokuto still doesn't look up at me, so I'm not sure how to address him.

"Does our observer have a name, Inoue?" asks the teacher at the end of the desk.

Naomi and I exchange a glance, and she raises an eyebrow at me.

Great. Apparently she has chosen this specific moment to stop speaking for people.

I turn awkwardly in my chair to look at everyone, though nobody looks at me besides Naomi and the teacher. "Hey, guys, I'm, uh, Hisao Nakai. Naomi invited me to check things out today to see if I might be interested in the club."

…Crickets, as expected.

The silence in the room is only broken up by quiet whispering and tapping on a keyboard, just to accentuate how out of place I feel.

After the short pause, Hokuto speaks up again, still not looking away from his computer. "Don't expect an easy ride, Nakai. Things move fast around here, and people who can't keep up get left behind. We're on a schedule at all times, so you need to be focused and dedicated."

"Oh. Okay."

I clear my throat. Hokuto doesn't respond, and Naomi shoots him a dirty look.

"Don't worry about Watanabe. He takes this more seriously than most," the teacher says, making eye contact with me, which I appreciate more than I probably should.

"Yes; that's exactly right." Naomi adds, tapping me on the arm like I wasn't already paying attention. "So says the honorable instructor Kawate." She bows her head towards him with mock formality, which seems like a strikingly casual and presumptuous way to address a teacher. He doesn't seem bothered by it, though, thankfully.

"I'm the club's faculty advisor," Kawate explains to me with a grin, amused with himself for some reason. "Really, I'm only here to make sure you don't put anything in the newspaper that wouldn't be appropriate to publish. You can just pretend I'm not here; I know you kids like to pretend you are responsible enough to handle things like this by yourselves."

Naomi nods approvingly at this statement. Kawate seems to be telling the truth, too, since as far as I can tell, Naomi is clearly the one in charge of this operation.

"Right, right, so, Hokuto, Kawate… you know Natsume from class, right? Natsume Ooe?" Naomi gestures behind me to the brunette girl from class, who smiles politely at me from her own seat at a computer.

"Yeah, sure," I say, playing my bad memory off casually. "Hi, Natsume."

I am beyond thankful that Naomi decided against putting me on the hot seat and asking me for her name.

Natsume waves pleasantly, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose with her free hand. "Hello, Hisao. Naomi said you were considering the club. It's good to have you."

"Thanks."

I'd never looked at her more than just in passing before, but now that I am, it's kind of hard to look away. Her eyes are two different colors… is it a vision problem? I thought the vision-impaired students were in 3-2, like Lilly… so maybe it's something else? I really don't know the rules of this place at all.

Natsume almost immediately notices me staring at her, but rather than say something, she just blushes a bit and turns away from me, whispering something into the ear of the boy sitting next to her, which is a relief. I suppose I'd rather she think I was staring at _her_ rather than her eyes, not that it's not embarrassing either way.

The boy, who is a head shorter than Natsume and has a face young enough to pass for a ten-year-old, seems somehow intimidated by my presence. I probably owe Naomi for the disruption, but it still makes me feel awkward. Obviously I am intruding on everyone by being here.

"The boy next to her is Hiro Nagata," Naomi explains directly into my ear. "He's the only first-year in the club. He doesn't talk much, and he mostly hangs around with Natsume, but he's super nice."

Hiro murmurs something to Natsume and says nothing to me. I've got no idea what to make of that.

Natsume squints for a moment and looks directly at me. "Note: editorial column for next week, somewhere in the back. Something for Hisao, maybe?"

It takes me a moment to realize that she's not talking to me. As she speaks, Hiro scribbles all her words down into a notebook, as though he is Natsume's personal secretary. I get the feeling he doesn't do much speaking to anyone here besides her.

I find it irritating that I am being volunteered for work already. This isn't feeling like much of an alternative to Student Council, after all.

"I don't even know if I'm joining, to be honest. I'm just exploring my options right now," I say uselessly.

Natsume smiles at this, as though she knew I would say that. "It's just an idea. It's good to shop around to find something that interests you, but you shouldn't rule anything out. And clubs are a good way to make friends."

Something about the way she says that is a bit more inviting. More honest, maybe? I could use some friends, and I don't know if anyone I've met here really qualifies, save maybe for Emi.

It's true that I don't want to rule anything out. I also don't want to end up without anything to do, and I've embarrassed myself in front of almost everyone I've met so far. Naomi has been very nice to me thus far, but I've gotten the impression she's just been trying to goad me into joining the club. Maybe I haven't given her enough credit.

"Thanks for the advice," I say to Natsume with a shrug.

"Of course. Pay close attention now, and you will probably be ready to come to a decision soon."

…Then again, maybe Natsume is just trying to manipulate me, too.

The room goes silent again. Natsume whispers things to Hiro, and Hokuto taps away by himself on his computer. For what Naomi described as a 'team', there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of teamwork at play here, though for what it's worth, everyone at least seems focused on doing whatever work it is that they're doing.

Eventually Naomi does get up and wanders over to Natsume, and they start a conversation about something that breaks up the quiet of the room. With my introductions out of the way, I have nothing else to do, and I feel awkward about trying to look over anyone's shoulder, so instead I just fold my hands on the desk and look around for a while.

Considering the size of the computer lab, it feels exceptionally sparse with so few people in it. I suppose it's not just reserved for the newspaper club, but even still I doubt that there are often many more students than this here at once.

"It must be a lot of work, doing the entire newspaper with this few people," I say to the air.

"I told you it wouldn't be easy," Hokuto responds immediately, gruff with some unfounded irritation.

"I know. I'm just… kind of impressed, I guess."

"Well, it's better than the Student Council, isn't it?" Naomi chides, now looking over Natsume's shoulder. "If you joined them, it would just be you, Shizune and Misha. And they've got an even heavier workload than we do."

"-Allegedly," adds Hokuto.

A Student Council of only two people? I guess that would explain why nobody else showed up to play Risk with us the other day. It's just all the more reason to be cautious about what I sign up for.

I wander over to Natsume's computer station, and Hiro shrinks a little away from her.

"How do you divvy up the work, then?" I ask, putting my hands in my pockets.

Naomi smiles brightly again, pleased to see me taking an interest, and immediately grabs hold of my arm to pull me towards her. She points toward the computer Hiro was typing on with one finger, as though I wouldn't understand what he was doing otherwise.

"Well, everyone writes stories except Takashi. Basically we just find whatever is interesting or important and take turns doing articles about the stuff that we find most interesting, and the boring stuff like sports and school policies and stuff." Naomi looks me dead in the eye for a moment, analyzing my totally blank face. "Takashi, on the other hand, is here to make everything pretty, so he doesn't really do any writing. But we could _really_ use more people to do the computery stuff, so if you're interested in-"

"-I don't know if I'm interested in anything yet, Naomi," I interrupt.

"-Okay, but if you _decide_ you're interested in the technical stuff, that would be a huge help for us. Plus, if you're not sure about writing for the paper, that could be a good place to start." She winks, trying to look cute.

Actually, that does sound like something I could do.

… _Actually_ , that sounds like something literally anyone with fingers could do. Maybe even toes. Rin seems pretty dexterous, after all.

It surprises me that this is the first time Naomi mentioned this to me, as this seems to be a serious concern for her. I get the impression she is more interested in having me write something for the paper.

I can't imagine how I give the impression that I have much to say. Maybe that's what she meant when she said Shizune was good at finding the potential in people. In this case, though, Shizune was probably wrong.

Even if it's not what Naomi was looking for, though, at least this might give me the opportunity not to embarrass myself. That actually sounds pretty promising to me.

I shrug. "Yeah. Maybe I could do that. _If_ I decide to join."

Naomi beams for a few moments before Natsume pulls her attention away to ask her something.

I notice the sun starting to go out through the far window, which probably means they won't be working for too much longer. I suppose I am at least managing not to intrude well enough to stay and watch them go for a while, even if it is mostly for Naomi's benefit.

* * *

The afternoon drags into the evening as I hang around the computer lab. As it turns out, Hokuto is the only one who is actually writing anything- a short article about where the class budgets are going this weekend. Since everyone is waiting for the festival, they have to wait until next week in order to write about all the interesting events. As such, the 'preparation' the newspaper club actually needs to do for the festival is slim at best, and Natsume, Naomi and I end up spending the time making ordinary conversation under the masquerade of them planning what to write about. Hiro takes very detailed notes regardless, though.

It's a pretty relaxed way to spend the afternoon, and it feels good to make friends with more people from my class. Friends? Acquaintances, at least.

Kawate is long gone by the time we all leave the computer lab, and Hokuto stays behind for what seems like no reason in particular.

I bid Naomi and Natsume good night when we break off at the entrance of the dorms, and I am about to head inside for the night when I glance over at Rin's mural out of curiosity.

To my surprise, Rin is sitting there, hunched over it and painting with the most emotional expression I have ever seen from her. I almost don't say anything, but my curiosity gets the better of me.

"Hey, Rin," I say quietly, trying not to sneak up on her.

Rin ignores me completely and continues to paint.

"Uh. Hey, Rin," I repeat.

"Who is it?" She tilts her head back and looks very briefly at me before returning to her mural. "Oh. You."

"Yeah. Me. Isn't it a little late to be out working?"

She shrugs a little, clearly distracted. "Yes."

"So, uh… why are you out here?"

"Need to."

"Need to…?"

"Finish painting. Not enough time."

"You're going to finish the whole thing tonight?"

"It needs to be done by Sunday. I'm going to finish it by Sunday. That's what needs to happen. I can't have any distractions."

She hasn't even looked up from her painting since she figured out who I am, and I'm not exactly sure how to proceed with her. She seems panicked, unhealthily so, but as far as I can tell Rin doesn't really express herself in the same way as most people, so I could be totally wrong.

Either way, she clearly doesn't want me to be here, and for some reason I'm a little hurt by that. Maybe I thought we were at least close enough for my presence not to bother her. Then again, I probably haven't been here long enough to get 'close' with anyone at all, let alone Rin.

"Alright, I'll leave you alone, then. Have a good night, Rin."

"Let us hope," says Rin.

I trail away, a little put-off. Curiosity killed the cat, I guess. Maybe I'll get more out of her on Sunday during the festival.

Having some actual friends to talk to is starting to seem like a pretty nice prospect all of a sudden. Heading off to my dorm, I can't help but think about how much more promising the newspaper club seems than it did yesterday. Then again, it's more the people than the club itself.

Try as I might, though, I can't seem to find anything wrong with that.


	3. Act 1 - Social Circles

**Author's Note:** If it wasn't obvious, these few early chapters are broken up in-between the regular events of the visual novel, to avoid redundancy. As such, of course, this will only be the case through to the regular end of Act 1. Hopefully it doesn't feel like any context is missing because of that.

Regardless, this chapter picks up at the end of class on Saturday, following Mutou's conversation with Hisao about the incident on the track. …With the previous chapter, then, taking place on Friday afternoon after class.

* * *

"Before you all leave, I expect the answers for those problems by Monday."

That's no doubt every student's least favorite ending to a day of class, especially considering the frantic last-minute festival preparations everyone is bound to be doing today.

Mutou is obviously aware of this, but shows no sign of sympathy as the entire class sighs in response. I suspect he is trying to teach us a lesson about slacking off. One that I would do well to learn as well, at that, considering that I need to finish the work the same as everyone else.

Almost everyone in the class piles out through the door almost immediately, evidently prioritizing festival preparation over their classwork, to Mutou's dismay. With no festival work of my own to do, I hang behind to finish the problems in the classroom.

The room becomes several degrees quieter as it empties out, and within moments there is nobody left but me, Naomi, Natsume, and Hanako. Naomi and Natsume chatter quietly to each other, and Hanako- seated right next to them, unfortunately- shifts around uncomfortably at the disruption.

I don't mention it, of course, and do my best to focus on getting my work done. Still, I can't help but notice that Hanako isn't even working on the problems from the board, and she quickly pulls out a book to distract herself from the two girls beside her. She must be waiting for Lilly, which still seems to me like a strange thing to do.

A couple of minutes pass as I start on my work, but just before I am able to knuckle down and get into a rhythm, a hand appears over my paper to interrupt me.

"You got any plans?" Naomi asks loudly, now looming over me.

I glare up at her with some irritation, as it should have been obvious that I was trying to work.

That said, I _don't_ have any plans, and I don't want to reject the possibility of having something to do this afternoon, so I let it slide.

"None," I reply with a shrug, setting my pencil down. "Why?"

"Because we're going to get something to eat, and you should tag along."

Naomi jabs a thumb in the direction of Natsume, who straightens her glasses and shrugs at me. "I assume Naomi is getting tired of my company, now that she's on good terms with a _boy_ from our class."

Natsume seems proud of herself for that, though Naomi doesn't even seem to notice that it's a joke at her expense.

"Don't you guys have club work to do or something?" I ask, glancing between the two of them.

"You were there yesterday afternoon," Naomi says impatiently. "You already know the answer to that."

"Yeah, I guess I do. But I wanted to get these problems done so I didn't have to worry about them later."

"Oh, come on, Hisao. You would seriously rather sit in silence by yourself than hang out with us?"

Once again, I notice that this comment, oddly, comes off less like a taunt and more like a genuine inquiry into my personality. Always the analyst, this one…

I almost point out that I wouldn't be here by myself, since Hanako is still here, but I decide against drawing attention to her. I glance toward the back of the room again- I think Hanako is actively hiding behind her book. No doubt Lilly won't be here for at least a little while longer, and I'm not eager to hang around her in awkward silence.

With a reluctant sigh, I push my chair back and stuff my papers into my bag. "Fine. Where are we going?"

"A teahouse called the Shanghai, in town. Have you been?" Natsume asks, looking intrigued for some reason.

"No… actually, I haven't gone into town at all since I got here. I guess I haven't had time…"

"Well, it's probably better that you have guides going in, then. Naomi and I haven't got anything to do today anyway."

Natsume flashes a friendly smile, prompting a loud, over-the-top scoff from Naomi, who throws up her hands and leans back against the empty desk next to me. "Hey, don't volunteer me for an entire afternoon! I just said we were getting food."

"I'm not volunteering you; I'm only volunteering myself. I just know that you are not one to be left out."

Naomi narrows her eyes as though she objects to this characterization, but she can't seem to come up with an adequate retort and so gives up. "Yeah… fair enough. There's really not a lot to see, though."

"Says you."

It seems like they are about to start arguing for no reason, but I can't gauge whether or not it's playful. Natsume has a very calm and measured way of speaking, such that any of her humor would come off as completely deadpan. It's hard for me to tell when she's being serious.

"I appreciate the offer. I was probably just going to wind up wandering around by myself otherwise," I cut in, finally standing from my desk in order to get us out of the classroom.

Naomi immediately takes the hint and heads for the door, and Natsume follows suit shortly after. Hanako looks relieved to see us go, from as far as I can tell. I feel a twinge of guilt for taking as long as we did to leave, though I realize I probably shouldn't.

The halls are densely packed with students even despite it being the end of the school day, and a number of classrooms are regardless filled with students doing last-minute festival preparations. Though it feels odd not to be involved in such a large activity for the school, I have to admit that it is nice not to have any obligations while everyone else frets about getting their work done in time.

Naomi takes the lead as we head out through the lobby of the academic building, and I immediately notice shouting echoing from the track a ways away- presumably, it's packed with athletes from the sports clubs. The noise quickly fades once we pass through the gate and begin to head down the road, just going to show how condensed the students are on campus. I imagine most people have work to do due to the festival, but that aside, it makes me wonder how often people actually bother taking walks off of the school's grounds.

Having lived in the city for my entire childhood, it strikes me as a waste to have such a quaint and relaxed locale and not bother to take advantage of it.

* * *

Naomi isn't wrong, as it turns out- there really isn't very much to see in town. It's small, quiet, and underpopulated, particularly for a Saturday afternoon. There are some little houses up on a hilltop, a park and a few storefronts that seem interesting, but overall nothing that really catches my eye. In a way, I prefer it that way, though. Nothing flashy. I like the quiet atmosphere here.

The three of us end up spending much longer than I would have expected just wandering around in town, and though Naomi doesn't seem to have much patience for it, a scolding glare from Natsume is enough to keep her from complaining.

Before long, it occurs to me that this has been more prolonged exertion than I've had in some time, and the walk starts to seriously take its toll on me. I'm irritated with myself for getting tired from something as mundane as a stroll through town… even considering my heart, I should be in better shape than this. Worse still, Naomi and Natsume don't pay it much notice even as I am forced to slow down my pace to take longer breaths. For some reason, the idea of having to bring up my condition even in passing to them really bothers me.

My irritation with myself morphs into derision as I come up with an excuse to sit down. "So, are you ever going to show me this teahouse, or are we just going to spend the whole afternoon getting lost?"

Naomi skids to a stop just to glower at me. "Wow, this coming from the guy who we were kind enough to do the favor of escorting in the first place?"

"I thought you only wanted to do this to get food, anyway."

"I did. But you didn't."

She raises an eyebrow at me. I should probably be more careful about framing my words as criticism toward her.

"If you two are finished with… whatever this is, we are only a block from the Shanghai," says Natsume, unimpressed. "We made almost a full circuit through town."

"Oh." Naomi looks up and down the street, a little surprised. "So we did. I guess your timing is pretty good, then, Hisao."

I look over her shoulder to the far corner of the road. Sure enough, there is a small café that looks comfortable enough. I'm surprised I didn't notice it before; it is a welcome sight indeed.

Naomi and Natsume walk through the entrance together, giving off the air of regulars. I get the impression this is their go-to destination in town, odd as it may seem considering how tiny and easy-to-miss it is.

A bell over the door rings three times as we enter, signaling our arrival to what seems to be nobody, as the entire place is apparently deserted. Naomi murmurs something to Natsume that I don't hear as I take a look at the café's strange interior. It's some odd amalgam of traditional Chinese architecture and modern furnishing… I guess it's supposed to be trendy? I've never been to a place like this before.

After a few awkward moments of the three of us bumbling around in the entrance, a door opens somewhere behind the counter, and, defying all my expectations, Yuuko of all people appears in an employee's uniform.

"Hey, Yuuko!" Naomi calls out, cheerfully raising a hand in greeting as Yuuko approaches us from behind the counter.

"Oh, it's you both… hi, girls," Yuuko says timidly, eyes darting around self-consciously. After a second, she lays her eyes on me and becomes unreasonably startled. "Oh, and, um, you as well; I didn't mean…"

"Uh." I tilt my head a little, not sure if she recognizes me. "Hi, Yuuko. I didn't know you worked here."

"Mhm, yes, well… anyway-!" She slows to a stop, eyes settling on Naomi and Natsume again, and then flings herself forward into a dramatic bow. "Welcome to the Shanghai! May I take your order?"

"Coffee, black," Natsume responds curtly. "And… something sweet. Pie? Lemon meringue pie."

"Yes, yes, absolutely… and you?"

Yuuko turns to Naomi, who raps her fingers along the counter thoughtfully. "Mm… is it too late to get lunch…? If I order a sandwich, is that, like, a whole sandwich or just a half?"

Yuuko freezes for a moment, intimidated by the question. "That would be a whole sandwich- cut into halves, that is- but they aren't very large, so it may not be enough for a full lunch portion on its own…"

"So, in that case, if I were to order two, do you think that would be too much food?"

"Oh! Well… of course, however much you want is fine… but… the sandwich itself is not a lot of food, but then, the thing is, that would come with soup… so if you were to order two sandwiches, that would also come with two soups, so… all of that food might be too much for one person… but… on the other hand, if you were to only get one- no, I'm sorry, I'm just making this more confusing; that's my fault…"

"Alright, calm down a little, Yuuko," Naomi interrupts, laughing patiently. "Your suggestion was very helpful. Thank you."

Yuuko seems beyond relieved just by this small reassurance, and takes her first breath since she began her whole rant. "Oh… good… you're welcome!"

"Just one sandwich. Turkey. With the soup, that should be enough food." Naomi gives Yuuko a minute to take it in before proceeding. "And a coffee for me, too, with lots of cream."

So the newspaper girls are coffee drinkers, just like me. That seems to fit their aesthetic somehow, like dedicated workers that run on caffeine. Funny how we're eating at a teahouse, and yet none of us is ordering tea.

Processing Naomi's small order, Yuuko nods frantically and bows twice, still wound up.

I speak up after a moment, at the risk of scaring her. "Just a coffee for me too, please."

Naomi laughs out loud, resting one arm on the counter. "Oh, so you complain about wanting to come here right away, and then you don't even order food?"

Honestly, getting tired from the walk basically killed my appetite, but I'm not eager to bring that up. I just shrug.

"I think he's just trying to torment us for a laugh, Natsume," Naomi says loudly. Natsume shakes her head dismissively, like a disapproving parent.

Relieved to have our orders taken care of, Yuuko scurries off through the door again. Naomi and Natsume take a seat at the first empty table, which is not hard to find considering just about every table is empty.

They sit on opposite sides from one another, and without thinking I slip into the booth next to Natsume. Naomi pouts- I _think_ jokingly- at the fact that nobody sat next to her.

"I'm glad you mentioned you hadn't been into town before, Hisao," says Natsume, sliding a little over in the booth to look at me. "It was nice to have the opportunity to go for a walk on a day like today, while the weather is nice."

Naomi rests her elbows on the table, flagrantly yawning without covering her mouth. "And it's uncrowded. It's smart to take advantage of being the lucky few who don't need to stress about the festival."

"-Yet," Natsume corrects seriously. "We'll have our fair share of stress come Monday."

"Don't remind me. You're going to start sounding like Hokuto."

"Yes, well, you may not like to hear it, but honestly he makes a good point about our own preparations. We don't even have a complete itinerary for tomorrow yet, and we were supposed to have been finished with it before we met yesterday."

Naomi lets out a loud groan. "Having a whole itinerary planned out isn't a big deal. As long as Takashi doesn't blow us off, we can basically just split up and everyone will be able to see everything no problem."

"But that's assuming Takashi doesn't blow us off."

"Fair enough."

It's the first time I've seen Naomi unenthusiastic about something newspaper-related. I imagine it must be annoying to turn something that's supposed to be fun, like the festival, into a homework assignment.

At the first pause in conversation, Yuuko appears and cautiously sets down everyone's food and coffee. Before I even get a chance to say thank you, though, she has already bowed and dashed back into the kitchen at lightning speed.

I take a sip of my coffee. It's the right temperature, but a little strong, so I reach over to grab a couple packets of sugar only to be preempted by Naomi, who grabs a fistful of them for herself.

"What's on your itinerary?" I ask as I stir my coffee.

"We're supposed to cover the festival as thoroughly as possible, so basically everything important," Naomi explains, emptying her fifth sugar into her murky drink. "All the different booths, the mural, performing arts stuff, food…"

"That sounds like fun, not work."

"Then you should join the club!" Naomi shoots me a look, genuinely waiting for a response, but I have none.

"Fun or not, my point is that it's something that needs to be planned," says Natsume, after a pause.

Naomi rolls her eyes and half-empties her cup in one swig. It must taste more like candy than coffee at this point.

I find myself regretting a little that I didn't order anything to eat, since I know I'm going to end up twiddling my thumbs while the two of them finish up. I'm left looking around absentmindedly while they dig in.

Now left with a pile of empty sugar packets, Naomi absentmindedly rolls one of her fingers around in one while she eats with her free hand. It's just ordinary fidgeting, but it makes her seem kind of erratic, like a dog that loses its focus every time it spots a squirrel. I'm not even totally sure why I'm paying attention to that… I guess Naomi just has a lot of mannerisms that draw your attention. I wonder if that's intentional.

…At any rate, she is a lot more expressive than Natsume, who remains comparatively still as she tends to her own food.

Eventually Naomi works her way through her sandwich and turns to her soup, lowering her head to test its temperature out of her spoon. When she does, I spot a patch of blonde from somewhere over one of the table dividers… I guess I hadn't noticed it before, even though it is a shade brighter than Naomi's own bleached-blonde hair. I can only think of one person that it could belong to.

Without saying anything, I lean out of the booth to get a better look- but as soon as I do, I nearly smack my head into someone just as they turn the corner. A quick glance up reveals an androgynous-looking woman in a suit, with the same blonde hair that I spotted across the room.

The woman laughs and gives me a quick apology before brushing past, leaving me to my embarrassment. Naomi doesn't even bother pretending not to laugh at me.

After scowling at her, I slip out of the booth just enough to glance across the room. Sure enough, there's Lilly, sitting alone with a cup of tea and looking forlorn about something. I probably wouldn't be tempted to invite her over without asking the others, but she looks so lonely sitting there by herself that I can't help myself.

"Hey, Lilly!" I call out from the middle of the room.

She seems startled for a moment, but collects herself quickly. "Hm? Oh, is that… Hisao?"

I meander towards her table just to get within speaking distance. "Yeah. Good to see you."

'Good to see you'… oops. Damn. Thankfully, she doesn't seem to notice.

"I heard another group come in a while ago, but I hadn't realized you were a part of it. I'm glad you came to say hello," Lilly says earnestly.

"You're here by yourself?"

"Now I am, I suppose." She cups her hands around her teacup, frowning. "I was having tea with my sister, who just left."

"Oh, I think I saw her… the woman in a suit? I almost smacked into her getting out of my seat."

"Yes, that's her. She can be a bit… brusque… at times, but I promise she is well-meaning."

Lilly lets out a quiet but obvious sigh. She seems much less bright than she did the last time I talked to her.

"Do you want to come sit with us?" I ask, glancing over my shoulder at my table. "It's just me and two girls from my class, Naomi Inoue and Natsume Ooe."

"Oh? Thank you, Hisao. I would appreciate the company."

"I probably owe you one for the tea from the other day."

With an appreciative smile, Lilly grasps her teacup in one hand and gets out of her seat. I hesitate for a moment, unsure exactly how to guide her to the other table, but before I get the chance, she pulls her retractable cane from the bench and walks over on her own. Apparently it was easy enough to tell where to go from the noise we were making.

Trying to navigate around her blindness makes me tense, particularly because she never seems to talk about it.

"I hope I'm not intruding," Lilly says politely, standing in front of our table to make introductions.

Natsume shoots me a tired look as I take my seat. I probably should have asked them before bringing a guest over, but I don't feel guilty about it.

Naomi, on the other hand, seems enthusiastic to greet her, and quickly begins speaking for the table. "Of course not. Do you want to take a seat?"

"Yes; thank you." Lilly folds up her cane and sits in the booth next to Naomi, who immediately slides over to the end to make room. "You're all in 3-3, yes? I don't know if we've really been properly acquainted. I am Lilly Satou. Naomi and Natsume, is it?"

"Oh, I think we've spoken a couple of times," Naomi replies with a shrug. "I can't speak for Natsume, though."

"No, you can't," Natsume says with a small sigh. "But it's nice to meet you, Lilly."

"Likewise," Lilly says calmly, raising her cup to her lips. "Forgive my lack of memory, Naomi."

"It's fine. I think it's been a while. I just keep track of people pretty well," Naomi dismisses. "So you and Hisao are friends, huh?"

Glancing between Lilly and I, Naomi shoots me a _very_ shady look, one that I don't even want to know the meaning of. More than that, I feel very uncomfortable taking advantage of Lilly's blindness to communicate through body language, so I do my best to ignore her.

"I would be flattered if Hisao considered me a friend, but we only met several days ago. Then again, that must be true of everyone, given that you are a transfer student." Lilly directs that statement at me- or in my general direction, at least.

"Basically. But… yeah, we're friends, I guess," I say uncertainly. I do like Lilly, to be sure, but I'm not sure if it would be worse to risk being rude or to risk being presumptuous.

Naomi raises an eyebrow at that, and I suddenly become very eager to change the subject.

"Er, did you talk to Hanako at all today, Lilly?" I ask hurriedly, to follow up.

"Hanako?" Lilly seems intrigued by the question. "Yes, just briefly. Why?"

"She stayed behind in the classroom today, along with the three of us. I had assumed she was waiting for you, so I was kind of surprised to see…"

I trail off, in response to a bizarre, anxious glare from Naomi. I really wish she would stop making faces at me so I could stop feeling like I'm tiptoeing around Lilly.

"I came by the classroom, but she was the only one there. You all must have left before then. I had already made plans with my sister, as I mentioned, so I believe she went off to the library. You needn't worry, Hisao."

Lilly smiles at me and returns to her tea. She can clearly sense that I'm still feeling uncomfortable about Hanako, so I'm glad to have her patience.

Not so for Naomi, however, who seems displeased with me for bringing up the subject of Hanako. Considering the two of them sit right next to each other in class, I would be willing to bet that Naomi has had about as much luck with her as I have. Hanako is probably not very receptive to being questioned about her interests and personality, after all.

Naomi thumps her hand on the table, all of a sudden filled with some newfound enthusiasm. "So, what will the big-shot class rep be doing for the festival?"

Lilly, taken by surprise, chuckles at the phrasing of that. "I take it you are referring to me."

"Unless there's another class rep at the table."

"I will be spending tomorrow waitressing. Please come by the stall; everyone has put in a lot of work to make sure everything will be running smoothly tomorrow." Lilly says that with some exhaustion, and I am immediately reminded of how Shizune was hounding her about it a couple days ago.

"Spending the whole day working? Man, you just can't catch a break, huh?"

"I have to admit, sometimes it really feels that way."

"You and your cousin both. You guys are like two peas in a pod with this festival stuff."

Huh? Whose cousin-?

"Funny you should say that, as I have been feeling quite the opposite lately. I'm surprised you even knew we were related."

"Like I said, I keep track of people well."

Naomi shrugs again, which seems odd considering Lilly obviously doesn't know she's doing it. I glance over at Natsume, who seems to barely even be paying attention. I suppose she is less interested in Lilly than either Naomi or I am.

"Sorry, who is your cousin…?" I ask tentatively, at the risk of embarrassing myself.

Naomi looks at me with disbelief. "…You're kidding, Hisao."

Lilly seems a little surprised. "Shizune Hakamichi. Your class representative. I could have sworn you mentioned that you knew her."

…Well, that certainly adds some layers to their rivalry. I am clearly wearing my surprise on my face, as Naomi seems eager to make fun of me for it.

"Yeah, he knows Shizune, Lilly," Naomi says, not taking her eyes off me. "Hisao, Hisao… friends with both Shizune and Lilly and you didn't know they were related? You sure do keep interesting company."

Lilly smirks gently, trying to hide her amusement at that.

I throw up my hands. "Hey, nobody told me. I'm still new, you know. It's not like I would think to ask."

"It's fine, Hisao. It shouldn't make any difference to you," Lilly remarks.

"No. I, uh… I guess it doesn't."

Lilly raises her cup to her lips again only to find it empty. A little pensive, she lowers it and turns her head away from the table somewhat. "It is probably beginning to get late, isn't it? I have been here for a while now."

Everyone else immediately looks out the window. Sure enough, it's already sundown. We must have spent more time wandering around in town than I realized.

"The sun is starting to set," says Natsume quietly.

"Yes, I thought as much. Then I think I should head back to Yamaku about now," Lilly says definitively, getting out of her seat and rifling through her bag.

"That's probably not a bad idea," I add, earning another suspicious glance from Naomi.

"I'm going to have another coffee. Let's go back after," she says with pursed lips.

"That works, too."

"Then we'll meet again later. As I said, please take the time to come by my stall. I would appreciate the break." Lilly sets down the money for her tea on the table, giving a polite wave. "Thank you for the company, you three. Have a good night."

Everyone chants 'good night' in unison as Lilly departs the Shanghai. That leaves Naomi, Natsume and me as the only three people in the building, besides Yuuko.

"That was interesting," Naomi hums, rapping her fingers along her empty coffee cup. "Thanks for introducing us, Hisao. You sure seem to like her."

"Yeah, she's nice. Sorry if I imposed a little bit." I shrug, as I'm not really all that sorry.

"Liked her enough to want to leave with her, anyway."

Natsume cracks up a little but says nothing. I guess I missed something somewhere along the line.

All of a sudden I find myself blushing. "What are you getting at?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just a little intrigued by your interest in her." Naomi throws up her hands innocently. "Like I said, you keep interesting company. You're an interesting person."

"I don't have _interest_ in her, alright? She's a friend. I've only known her for, like, two days. Not everything needs to be a big scandal."

"You can't tell me you don't think she's pretty."

"I didn't say that- I- that doesn't make any difference! What are you on about?"

If I wasn't blushing before, I definitely am now. All of a sudden I'm on the witness stand, and Naomi is particularly harsh on the cross-examination.

By all accounts, I do not know Naomi well enough to be getting questioned like this… but then, she definitely seems much more forward than most. That doesn't pair well with her curiosity, it seems.

"So you do think she's pretty," Naomi replies, leaning into her hands.

"Sure. So what? You read too much into everything."

"You sure seem eager to deny it."

She grins, reveling in sadistic pleasure.

I have had more than enough of this, and take the only out I can think of. "…Aren't we only still here because you wanted another coffee?"

"Oh, yeah." She sits up suddenly, having apparently genuinely forgotten about it. "But Yuuko hasn't come out in a while."

"I think she waits for the bell on the front door to come out and greet customers," says Natsume. "She should really be more attentive, considering we're the only customers here."

"Don't let her hear you say that. You'll give her a panic attack." With a sigh, Naomi climbs out of her seat and wanders away from the table, towards the counter. "Hey, Yuuko!"

There is a distant crash from somewhere through the doorway.

A moment later, Yuuko appears, looking disheveled as ever, and rushes to take Naomi's order at the counter.

I take a deep breath, enjoying my one free moment from the controlled uproar that seems to follow Naomi around like a cloud of dust.

Natsume leans into the table, watching Naomi carefully. We make brief eye contact, which I break to avoid staring at her discolored eye.

"…So you like blondes, huh, Hisao?" Natsume asks with a quiet chuckle.

For the love of-

"Oh, nobody asked for your opinion."

"Tsch."

Natsume relaxes back into the bench without another word, straightening her glasses. Thankfully, she doesn't seem as intent on interrogation as Naomi, but even still… today is not my day.

I don't even have plans yet, but it's hard for me to imagine that the festival could possibly be as exhausting as this.


	4. Act 1 - It Takes All Kinds

"…Yeah, you should check the festival out."

It seems like a harmless suggestion to me, but even still I'm not surprised to see Kenji overreact to it, groaning and throwing his face into his hands.

"Agh, no, no! I can't do it. They'll eat me alive out there, I know it."

He remains hidden behind his door frame as though concerned someone might see that he's in the building. Given that it's his room, and I'm clearly talking to him, this seems like an unrealistic concern to me, but unrealistic concerns are his specialty.

Kenji shakes his head once and collects himself, looking to me hopefully. "What are you going to do? We should hang out in here; you can help me build my fort. We might still make it if we work together."

Huh. To be honest, despite how much everyone has been talking about the festival, I hadn't really given my own plans much thought until now.

"I don't know. I'm pretty hungry, so I thought I'd get some food first and then check out the attractions." I shrug, speaking off the top of my head. "The people in the newspaper club made it seem like there's a lot to see. I'd like to get the chance to do as much as possible."

Kenji hesitates for a moment before continuing his rant. Apparently what I said caught him off guard. "You read the newspaper?"

"Not really. I've just been hanging out with the people who run it."

" _What_? Are you serious? That's, like, a hundred times worse!"

Kenji clenches his sweaty fists, glaring at me with paranoia from behind his glasses. I probably should have expected this.

"Worse? Worse than what?"

"Those are probably the worst people you could hang around with! Infiltrating the media is the number one priority for any conspiracy. Everyone knows that. They'll poison your mind if you aren't careful." He shakes his head slowly, trying to pass on his sage-like wisdom. "Isn't it already run by a bunch of loudmouthed girls?"

"Uh… not really? There's five people in the club, and only two of them are girls. And that's not counting me; I'm not even _in_ the club."

"Oh… really?" Kenji tugs on his scarf, settling down a little. "Well, even still, that's a risky move you're taking, dude. Taking the fight undercover is dangerous. You can only wear a mask for so long before it starts wearing you, you know what I mean?"

"Uh… I guess so?"

"If you're going to commit to this, you shouldn't start today. Today is one of the most dangerous days of the year. Let it blow over in safety, like me. Find shelter."

"I'll keep that in mind."

He glances briefly over his shoulder, breathing heavily, then nods at me. "Take care of yourself. Don't go to the festival."

"Okay."

"Later, dude."

The door slowly closes in front of me as Kenji slides back into his shadowy room. I'm jarred, but not altogether surprised. At least Kenji is predictable, if nothing else.

Now having some idea of what to do with my afternoon, I am pleasantly surprised by my own enthusiasm to go out today.

* * *

The campus is surprisingly crowded, considering the fact that the festival has not even officially started yet. The number of stalls surrounding the school surely outnumbers the number of classes they belong to. It's pretty clear that everyone's hard work went into making this as big and over-the-top of an event as possible. Even after all I've heard about it, it still blows my expectations out of the water. I spend a long time just taking it in as I wander around.

With no better place to go, and an empty stomach that wears on me more and more the longer I walk around outside, I end up buying a plate of takoyaki and sitting by myself on a bench away from most of the commotion. Before long, the carillon bells ring out in the distance, and the principal announces the official beginning of the very much already-underway festival.

I feel kind of invisible in the midst of everything. It's kind of relaxing and kind of uncomfortable at the same time. This is what you'd call "blending in", I guess. It gives me the chance to get a good look at all the other people here.

Most of the festival-goers seem to be non-students, to my surprise. Most people here seem to be from the town surrounding Yamaku. Lots of little kids dragging their mothers around by the hand, and especially a lot of elderly people. There are plenty of school uniforms mixed into the crowd too, to be sure, but I think most of the students out here are either setting up stalls for their class, or already working at them. I feel a little guilty that I don't have any work of my own to do.

I'm determined not to sit around and waste my time, especially since the summer heat makes it difficult to sit in one place comfortably. As soon as I'm finished eating, I dump my plate and slip back into the crowd of people…

…And then, a moment later, I step out of it again. Come to think of it, now that I'm here, I don't have the first idea of where to start. My plan of "wander around and find something to do" sounded a lot better in my head.

I wish I didn't have to find my way around by myself. Maybe I could go check on Lilly's stall- she asked us to yesterday, after all. Then again, she said she was waitressing, and I did just eat…

With no better ideas, I meander back around to the school building. All up and down the pathway, people lean out of their stalls to try and harass people into spending money on something, but I don't see Lilly anywhere. I'm really starting to regret that I don't have any friends to guide me around here.

"Hey, you listening? Don't you wanna know your future?"

Something hits lightly on the arm, and I instinctively turn. It was a wad of paper, thrown by a girl at the counter of the stall nearest to my left. First-years get bolder every year, it seems.

"Huh?" I hear myself ask, still not really paying attention.

"Wow, you are really out of it, huh?" She leans on the counter with a bored expression, not even bothering to hide it.

"I was just a little distracted. Sorry."

"Are you looking for something?"

"Uh… not really. The stall for class 3-2, I guess?"

"Oh. Yeah. Sure."

She sighs loudly, leaning over her counter to point further up the lane. It's hard to tell exactly where she's pointing, considering the crowd, but I think I get the gist of it. As far as I can tell, Lilly's stall seems to be the biggest among of any of the surrounding ones. I'm surprised it didn't draw my attention sooner.

"Up there," says the girl, sliding back behind the counter.

"Thanks."

"…No problem."

She sighs again, voicing her displeasure with… something I did, I suppose. I'm not sure what that is.

"Do you need something?" I ask, a bit more rudely than I intended.

"No, no, by all means, if you're in a rush, go ahead."

"Okay…?"

I turn away again-

"Unless you're not in a rush, of course!"

-and turn back.

"Alright, what is it, then?"

"I asked you before if you wanted to get your palm read. Weren't you listening?"

"No, not really. I told you I was distracted."

"Oh, yeah." She pouts for just a moment, then summons up some fake enthusiasm and jumps to her feet. "Do you want to get your palm read?"

"Er. Not really."

Her eyes glint with frustration. "…You sure? It's fun! If you're not in a rush…!"

Well, I guess I did want to do as much as possible.

"Alright, fine."

"Great! 600 yen."

"…Oh."

She flashes me a look. "Oh, come on, dude."

"Alright… maybe later. I'll swing back around."

"Where's your sense of fun?"

"Sorry, I'm just… not really superstitious."

Nor am I keen to dump 600 yen on a fortune, but I don't want to come off as cheap. This stall must not be getting very much attention, considering how hard this girl is fighting just for one customer… I kinda feel bad now.

"This is no place for cynicism, Hisao."

That's Natsume's voice- I hadn't even heard her approach in the middle of my conversation. The girl at the counter openly laughs at me as I turn around.

"Everyone's a critic," I groan, crossing my arms.

Natsume straightens her glasses and brushes a hand to her side, and Hiro, clutching a clipboard in his arms, tiptoes out from behind her like a frightened mouse.

"If you didn't want to spend money, you probably shouldn't have come to the festival in the first place," Natsume says matter-of-factly. "But more importantly, you shouldn't pass up an opportunity to learn about your future." She pats her hand down on the counter for emphasis. "Hiro and I already got our palms read. You have to admit, 600 yen is a pretty good deal in exchange for ancient mystic knowledge."

"She's right, you know," says the girl at the counter behind me.

I tilt my head to the side to look at Hiro, who meekly raises a hand to wave at me before glancing back to the papers on his clipboard. Presumably, Natsume is using him to keep notes again. I suppose these two are hard at work, going from stall to stall for the newspaper.

Mandatory fun. What a difficult job.

I look back to Natsume. "How do I know whether the fortune I'm given will actually come true or not?"

"It's a low-risk investment. Sometimes you just have to have a little faith with these things," Natsume explains. "Hiro is going to find love in a familiar place. I'm going to make a great impact on the world. Don't you want to know what is preordained for you?"

Personally, I suspect that kind of thing may be better left to chance. Not _everyone_ can be destined for greatness, after all.

Then again, I don't see another way out of this. The members of the newspaper club are the masters of the hard sell.

"You sound like an advertisement," I mutter, getting out my wallet.

Natsume seems as pleased with herself as ever.

* * *

Turns out I will be a highly successful and influential person. That would probably be uplifting, but apparently I will also live a long and prosperous life and have a future in athletics… so I guess palmistry doesn't account for crippling health defects. If she'd checked my wrist, my pulse would have told her that much.

I probably should have saved my money- I didn't exactly need a professional to remind me what I'm doing here. It irritates me that such a little thing can get to me like that. I wish I could say it was just pessimism, but that's what I get for thinking about the future, like it or not.

Natsume and Hiro don't seem to notice my mood change, and Natsume chatters into my ear as we work our way all the way down the path along the side of the school building. Hiro barely says two words, though that's partly because Natsume keeps noticing things and dictating comments to him, leaving him furiously scribbling notes the whole time.

Eventually we stop at Lilly's stall, which seems to be in a state of chaos. A handful of students, Lilly included, are all crowded around the back of the stall sifting through a stack of boxes. We have to stand at the counter unassisted for a minute or so before someone finally takes notice of us and sends Lilly off to greet us.

"Sorry about that, we're having a few problems. What would you like?" Lilly asks with some exhaustion.

Natsume raises an eyebrow at that and nudges Hiro. "Oh, really? What happened?"

"Oh! Is that… Natsume? From yesterday?"

"That's right. Hisao is here, too. And another friend."

I speak up for the first time. "Hi, Lilly. Enjoying the festival?"

"Mm… I am doing my best," Lilly responds lamely. "Thank you all for stopping by. I'm sorry everything is so disorganized right now…"

"It's not of any concern to us," says Natsume. "What exactly happened?"

"There was some kind of mistake with our order. We don't have everything we need, and we don't have enough students from our class to help manage it…" Lilly touches her cheek, politely trying to mask what seems to me like pretty obvious frustration.

Natsume nudges Hiro forcefully to get him to start writing. "You aren't the only ones, either. There are a number of stalls serving food that had ordering mistakes. As I understand this is some kind of larger bureaucratic issue." She bites her lip, like she's hesitant to go on. "Probably something that would have fallen under the jurisdiction of the Student Council, don't you think? Considering they are the ones that had to keep track of all those reports…"

"Hm. I… hadn't even thought of it."

I get the feeling she has thought about it at length, but I suppose her sense of tact prevents her from badmouthing Shizune in public.

Natsume raps her fingers along the counter with a thoughtful expression. I wonder if she is trying to rile Lilly up on purpose? Maybe she wants something scandalous to report on. I don't think her brand of journalism makes integrity a priority.

"I'm sorry, I got distracted for a moment," Lilly adds after a second, not giving Natsume the chance to continue. "What can I get for you?"

Oh, right. I'd almost forgotten that we're not the only people in line here.

I glance at the menu as a gut reaction. Without thinking, I order the first thing that comes to mind, even though I'm not hungry. "Oh, uh… how about miso soup?"

"Of course."

Almost immediately, Natsume cuts ahead of me, fishing through her own wallet for money. "Just make that one bowl for each of us, please."

"Oh, alright. Coming right up."

Natsume pays for the three of us, not even giving me the opportunity to protest. After taking a moment to count out the coins in her palm, Lilly calls out her order to the group behind her.

Before long, they pass forward our order, and Lilly delicately lays out three bowls of soup on the counter. Without another word, Natsume takes hers and takes off, indicating for us to follow. Hiro hugs his clipboard to his chest and attempts to balance his soup in one hand, which I only narrowly catch myself from laughing at. He hurriedly accepts when I offer to carry it for him.

"I was going to pay for this myself, Natsume," I call ahead, partially just to get her to slow down so I can catch up to her.

Natsume glances back very briefly, just long enough for us to get within speaking distance, then continues on. "I know. But I figured that I already pressured you into spending money on getting your palm read. I don't mind buying."

"Yeah… I'm willing to bet Hiro doesn't mind you buying, either."

"Well, he's taking notes for me. It's a give-and-take relationship."

"I'm happy to help," Hiro interjects suddenly.

I'm a little startled for a moment- I'm not sure I had even realized he was capable of speaking outside of a hushed whisper.

"I know, but you wouldn't tell me even if you weren't," Natsume replies with a shrug. Hiro smiles faintly at that.

We walk halfway across campus before finding a shaded spot that Natsume is satisfied sitting down at. The walk takes more out of me than I'd like to admit, and I'm happy to finally sit down and rest in the grass for a while. At least the soup is good.

"Where is everybody else?" I ask after we get settled in. "You guys are… reporting on the festival, or whatever, right?"

Natsume lowers her bowl from her lips, narrowing her eyes at the question. "We were together with Hokuto earlier, but he went off on his own to help cover our bases better. I have yet to hear from Naomi or Takashi."

Takashi not being here is not hard to believe, from what I've heard of him so far, but Naomi? I'm shocked that she hasn't shown up to help. It seems like she has talked about nothing but the festival for the past two days.

"Really? Naomi is missing? Didn't you call her or anything?"

Natsume shrugs. "Of course I did. Her absence is not making my life any easier."

And that's all anyone says about it. I feel a little strange about that for some reason.

We spend a while sitting in the grass as we finish our soup. Natsume ends up finishing while her bowl is still half-full, and she gives the rest to Hiro, who drinks it in nearly one gulp. For such a small person, he has an impressive appetite.

Now that I'm in the shade, I find myself really starting to relax for the first time today. I hadn't realized how much I needed a day off after only a week of class. You'd think all that time in the hospital would have been enough of a vacation, but it's been rough transitioning into class. It feels good to have someone I can call a friend- or close enough to one, at least- just so I don't have to feel like such an introvert.

I am the last one to finish eating, and Natsume snatches my bowl away as soon as I set it down. "Hisao, I have a request to make of you. And I know I am not really at liberty to make it, so please keep an open mind."

"I beg your pardon?"

She stands, stacking the three bowls together in one hand. "I know you aren't technically in the club… but could you give Hokuto a hand for a little while? I don't trust him on his own."

"Huh? Why not?"

"He's just very opinionated. I don't like the idea of him wandering around writing unnecessarily critical things about everyone's hard work."

"Oh," I say flatly.

I suppose I don't mind helping. And it probably wouldn't hurt to get to know Hokuto a little better. But maybe I'm just in a good mood.

I shrug. "Yeah, alright."

"Thanks a lot." Natsume briefly glances down at her cell phone, thoughtful. "Do you know the big mural by the dorms?"

"You mean Rin's mural? Yeah, I helped work on it a little bit."

"Oh, really?" She snaps her head up to look at me suddenly. "That's really helpful. Could you go meet Hokuto there? He's been dragging his feet on this."

"Sure."

"Great." She shoots a look at Hiro. "Note: art club piece. Front page. Left column."

He scribbles this down dutifully.

Is she visualizing the whole paper in her head? That's actually kind of impressive.

Natsume nods once to affirm what Hiro wrote, then looks back to me. "Hisao. Everyone from the club's going to meet up tonight, after dark, if they decide to show up. You should come along, too."

"Sure."

"Give me your phone."

"What? Why?"

"So I can put in my phone number, of course. You may as well be in contact with everyone in the club, at this point."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense."

I hand her my own phone without question, and she immediately jumps to my contacts list.

Something in the back of my mind celebrates the fact that I just inadvertently got the number of a cute girl from my class. I feel odd that that thought even crossed my mind, even if only for a second. After all, it's tempered by the fact that this is the first person _period_ that I've gotten the phone number of at Yamaku.

She taps away at my phone for a few minutes before handing it back to me. It seems strange until I realize that it wasn't just her phone number that she put in, but the number of everyone in the newspaper club. Natsume seems pretty presumptuous about me joining their ranks.

Then again, is she really wrong to be? I like everyone well enough, and I've entertained the idea for some time. If I am going to join, it might be better to do it sooner rather than later.

"We'll see you later, then, Hisao?" Natsume asks, tugging on Hiro's arm, to his chagrin.

"Yeah. See ya."

Natsume and Hiro head back off the way we came, and they take all the bowls with them to return them to Lilly's stall. I guess that's that.

We're already pretty close to the dorms, as it turns out, so it's just a short walk to the mural at the bottom of the stairs. When I arrive, Hokuto is the only person looking at it- and that includes Rin herself, who is instead parked on the ground, leaning against the wall and staring off into the vague distance.

"Hisao," Hokuto says gruffly, nodding to acknowledge me. "They recruited you."

"Yeah. Just for the afternoon, anyway," I reply.

He thinks for a moment, then gestures forward. "I have no idea what to say about this."

I take my first real look at the finished mural since I arrived. It's both impressive and disturbing at the same time- an entire wall covered top-to-bottom in disfigured bodies and odd colors. It is much too abstract for me to form any kind of intellectual opinion about it, so I understand where Hokuto is coming from.

"Hey, Rin," I posit, turning to the artist herself.

She blinks drearily and cranes her head up toward me, looking half-asleep. "Oh, it's you again."

"You finished your mural, I see."

"Hm. I don't know. Maybe I did."

I glance back at the mural. It looks pretty damn finished to me- I don't think there's a single spot left to be filled anywhere on the wall.

"It looks good."

"I don't know."

That's kind of disappointing to hear. I really do think the mural looks nice, not that Rin seems to care what I think one way or the other.

Hokuto shoots me a glance and steps to my other side, putting his finger to his chin like a critic.

"What is it?" he asks, gesturing to Rin.

"It's a mural," she replies dully.

I can't help but laugh, which makes Hokuto grumble to himself.

"But what is the mural about?"

"I don't know."

Hokuto groans audibly, which Rin does not even seem to notice.

"How do you not know? You painted it!"

"Yes."

"So what were you trying to paint?"

"…A mural. And that is what I painted."

"What is being portrayed on it?"

"I don't know. It is portraying what a mural portrays."

"…So it's a mural about a mural."

"Yes!" Rin seems suddenly enthusiastic. "Yes, that is exactly what it is."

I'm starting to think I understand it even worse than I did before. I don't know how much help I can really be to Hokuto.

"…Great."

Hokuto looks back to me, and I shrug uselessly. With a scowl, he takes a few steps toward Rin, leaving me to stand awkwardly behind him.

"We're contributing to the school newspaper," he explains, collecting himself to sound more polite. "I would really appreciate it if I could quote you on what your thoughts were when you painted this."

"I don't know. I had a lot of different thoughts."

"Why don't you just take a picture?" I ask absentmindedly.

Hokuto flips back to me. "Takashi is supposed to be our photographer today."

Of course he is.

"Well, the mural will still be here tomorrow."

"We _will_ get a photo of it. But if I'm going to write about it, I want a statement."

I'm not so sure there is anything to write about it. Maybe I'm not cut out for this after all.

With a flourish, Hokuto gets down on one knee to look at Rin, who hasn't moved from her spot against the wall the whole time.

"I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

"Rin Tezuka," says Rin.

"The art club seemed pretty interested in your work."

"They are."

"You must have some kind of inspiration."

"That's what they said."

"So what is it that inspires your mural?"

Rin thinks for a long while. "Murals."

…It's going to be a long afternoon.

* * *

Hokuto's not so bad, once you get to know him. He can be curt, but I think he's just defensive of his work. We spend the rest of the afternoon going from place to place, and he drops his cold façade when I prove that I'm willing to help out. Even if that help is just making useless comments every once in a while.

Even as the sun sets, the crowd hardly dies down at all. If anything, it swells even larger around dinnertime, as people get their second wind to try everything. I barely even notice the time passing, personally.

The evening trails on past the sunset, until the campus is left lit only by moonlight and a few lights scattered around the stalls. Hokuto lets out a yawn and claims that he urgently needs caffeine, so naturally I am left fishing through my pockets for change to feed the vending machine. An entire day of festival games and food and the only thing either of us has to show for it is an empty wallet and one stuffed animal that he _insists_ is for his sister.

I scrounge up enough for two canned coffees and toss Hokuto one. With another yawn, he leans against a nearby tree and tries to look cool as he sips from it. Before I get to mine, though, I notice my phone buzzing and am nearly startled enough to drop my coffee on the ground.

It's Natsume. Go figure.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hisao," says Natsume, her voice a little obscured by background noise. "You're with Hokuto, right?"

"Yeah, he's here."

Hokuto seems suddenly alarmed, and takes a step toward me. "Who is that? You're talking about me?"

"It's Natsume," I say with a wave of my hand. "Relax."

He narrows his eyes suspiciously.

"Do you want to come meet us in the gardens? We should probably convene together," says Natsume.

"Yeah, sure."

"Do you know your way around well enough to get there, or do you need me to navigate you?"

"I think I can find my way there."

"Find your way _where_ , Hisao?" Hokuto demands.

"To the-"

I don't get a chance to finish before he snatches my phone out of hands. "Where are you? –No, we spent all day- ugh… yes, Natsume…"

He thrusts my phone back into my hands, looking defeated.

I raise an eyebrow. "Are you satisfied?"

"Just come on."

He storms off to meet up with the others. Thankfully he knows the way, because I suspect I would have been out of luck trying to find my way there on my own…

We find Natsume and Hiro tucked away into a quiet area away from the main event, gathered around a picnic table and a bench. They both look about as exhausted as I feel- no doubt they had a busy day of their own.

"What's the word on Takashi?" Hokuto asks, taking a seat at the bench next to Natsume.

"He never turned up," Natsume groans.

"Of course he didn't."

"But I have even better news." Natsume glances up at the sky for a moment, contemplating something, then looks back to her phone. "I _do_ have word on Naomi. And she is not happy."

"Oh, really? What does she want?"

"She wants to look at the notes we took today. Have you got them with you?"

"Right here." Hokuto lifts his clipboard, which is completely covered in his illegible chicken scratch.

"Great. So now the big question. Who wants to be the messenger?"

They exchange a glance, visibly exhausted. I feel like I missed something.

"What? Where's Naomi?" I ask, turning everyone's attention to me.

"Why?" responds Natsume shadily. "You want to bring her the notes?"

"Sure, I don't mind. I don't get what the big deal is."

"She's in the nurse's office. Just stop in."

Hang on, what-?

In one move, Natsume swings her arm all the way around her and snatches both clipboards from the boys on either side of her.

I hold up a hand to stop her. "Wait, she's in the nurse's? Is something wrong?"

"No, don't worry. She's fine. Just… er… not in a good mood," Natsume explains tentatively.

She stands from the bench to dump a handful of papers into my arms. I'm starting to think this is more than I bargained for, but I suppose it's too late to go back now.

"Thank you, Hisao."

She sure is quick to delegate… all of them seem to be that way, in fact, aside from Hiro. They may not exactly be the flawless team that Naomi painted them to be, but it seems like the club is pretty tightly-knit. Like they all know each other really personally. It kind of reminds me of home…

I allow myself one more moment to take in the night air before heading off for the nurse's office. It seems a little late for a visit there, but I suppose they advertise 24/7 nursing for a reason here.

Still, what happened to Naomi? She is apparently bound to the damn place, and yet nobody even bothers to mention what happened? Is everyone's health really such a non-concern that people just don't care when something bad happens? Or is it such a regular occurrence that it's not worth making a big deal about?

I kind of hate that idea for some reason. Letting my health problems become normalized. I have struggled for months with the idea that this is something I'm just going to have to get used to.

It's a bit of a walk to get there, but I know the way to the auxiliary building already, so the trip isn't any longer than it has to be. All the lights are off in the halls, making the whole place kind of eerie. On the night of the festival, it seems like there's not a soul here. And it seems like there shouldn't be.

The head nurse's office is closed, as it turns out. I'm relieved that I won't have to risk an encounter with him, as I know that would entail a lecture about abandoning my runs with Emi.

It takes me a few more minutes to find an office with the lights on. I rap my fingers lightly against the door, and very quickly it swings open to reveal a cheery-looking woman in a white coat.

"Oh, I'm sorry, can I help you?" she asks politely.

I shrug, unsure of myself. "Yes, I'm sorry… I'm looking for Naomi Inoue?"

The nurse nods knowingly and peers back into the room for a moment. "You're from the newspaper club, right?"

"Er. Sure."

"Come on in. She's been complaining about wanting to see you."

She steps aside to let me enter, not bothering to guide me any further into the office than her desk, where she promptly takes a seat again. I lead myself into the back room, where they keep beds and some emergency medical equipment.

Naomi sits up on a bed at the edge of the room, near the window. It makes me a little forlorn, for some reason.

"…Naomi," I murmur, holding up the papers I carried in.

She flips around immediately, surprised to hear my voice. "Hisao? Of all the people I expected to show up here, you were not one of them."

She smiles at me, though it looks kind of forced. I wander over to her bed to hand her the papers, which she takes greedily.

"Apparently nobody wanted to come see you."

"Yeah, I don't blame them," she sighs, absentmindedly peering over the pages in her hands. "I was cranky on the phone."

I'm quiet for a moment, not totally sure what the proper etiquette is here. Am I supposed to just leave? I wish I knew what was going on, at least.

I slump back onto the bed next to hers. "Is… I mean… are you… okay? What happened?"

"…Oh! Nobody told you?" Naomi frowns slightly, looking up from the papers. "Sorry, I didn't mean to keep anyone out of the loop. I had a pretty bad seizure in the girls' dorm this morning. It's my own fault; I slacked on my meds." She shrugs. "Oh yeah, I'm epileptic, in case you didn't know. Mutou goes out of his way to tell the whole class stuff like that if it's important, but I guess you're a transfer student so you wouldn't know. But yeah, it's not a big deal. I promise it's nothing to worry about."

She goes back to reading everyone's notes.

…

So, she's epileptic. That's what's wrong with her, I guess. A seizure she had this morning has kept her bedridden all day, and that's not a big deal?

I glance around the room once more. It's lit only by moonlight, but I suppose it's better than keeping on the ugly nurse's-office fluorescent lights. It sure is pretty outside, after all.

I guess this little room is the closest thing to a hospital room you'd find here. Maybe that's why it makes me feel forlorn.

"Is… that helpful?" I ask tentatively.

Naomi looks up again with a start, like she's surprised to see me still here. "Oh, yeah! Thanks a lot. Looks like everyone got things covered after all. I was worried about that." She looks out the window and puts a hand to her forehead. "It's so shitty that this had to happen today, though. I was really looking forward to this…"

"Sorry."

"Hm. Thanks." She sighs quietly.

"I, uh… I mean, is it-?"

"I'm sorry, did I freak you out?" she interrupts suddenly, shaking her head. She sets down the stack of papers on the bedside table, swinging her legs over the side of the bed to face me. "You never asked me about any health stuff. I thought you weren't worried about it. But I know some people are kind of private about that stuff. I'm really sorry if that made you uncomfortable."

"No, no, it's fine, Naomi. Seriously."

"Alright, good. I assume I know people too well sometimes, and I tend to totally say the wrong thing." She shrugs. "I haven't exactly got you figured out yet, so."

"That's alright."

She smiles gently, looking genuinely appreciative. I appreciate that Naomi is going out of her way to accommodate me… and I hate the fact that I feel awkward about it.

Neither of us says anything for a few moments, but our silence is cut off by a distant bang that takes me completely by surprise. Naomi gives a sad smile and turns back to look out the window again.

It's a fireworks display- quite a big one, at that, with a whole host of patterns. The view of it from this little room is amazing. Each blast paints the whole room in a different color, like we have front row seats to the whole event.

It's been a very long time since I got to do anything like this. The city back home never held any festivals of this size. This really feels like something to treasure about Yamaku.

"Well, that's the end of the festival, huh?" Naomi murmurs, a little sad. "So I missed the whole damn thing."

"That's a real shame," I say uselessly.

"It's alright. I've been sleeping all day. I'm just glad I'm awake for the fireworks." She brushes a little bit of hair out of her face. I can't help but notice that she is turned more toward me than the window.

"They're pretty spectacular."

"Yeah, even better than last year's."

Naomi is quiet for another minute or so. The white of her uniform keeps lighting up in colors along with the rest of the room, in time with each of the fireworks. She doesn't seem to notice.

"Did you have fun, at least?" she asks after a couple minutes, turning away again.

"Yeah, I did. It was a busy day, but it was fun getting to know everyone a little better." I think on it for another moment. "I guess there's no reason not to join your club, at this point."

"Oh yeah? You wanna make that official?"

"Yeah. I might as well, right?"

"Absolutely. Everyone will be really happy to have you on board." Naomi rests her hands on the back of the bed. "Cool. That's really cool, Hisao."

She smiles at me, then takes a deep breath and stares out the window again. She really did seem down about missing the festival, but apparently this has really improved her mood.

That alone kills any doubts I had.


	5. Act 2 - Initiation

**Author's Note:** Made some minor edits to this chapter and chapter 2 to accommodate for my stupidity; many thanks to a keen editor for reminding me where this story takes place.

* * *

 **Act 2: Observation**

Monday morning has always been the most trying time of the week, but I can't remember the last time I _ever_ felt like this waking up. I could chalk it up to the fact that I haven't adapted to my class schedule yet, but really it's the festival's fault. If I only knew why I thought it was a good idea to drink coffee so late at night.

My alarm is quickly silenced by the snooze button, but the sunlight pouring in through my window is much less forgiving. As much as every muscle in my body wants to lie in bed for the rest of the morning, I know I will never be able to fall asleep again. It is with a great deal of bitterness that I finally drag myself out of bed and pull on my uniform.

I only barely have enough time to do the bare minimum to get ready for class, mostly because of the time I need to set aside to swallow my daily mound of pills. It has been ages since I've had a full uninterrupted night of sleep- insomnia is one of my medication's side effects. It certainly isn't making things any easier for me this morning.

The campus is quiet and empty as I walk to class. Virtually all of the stalls from yesterday are still up, making the grounds feel like a ghost town. It is usually quiet in the mornings, granted, but this is the first morning since I've arrived that I wasn't especially early getting to class. Evidently I am not the only one that had a rough night.

This only becomes more apparent upon my arrival at class 3-3. The students who have already shown up- and there are fewer of them than I expected- all look exhausted and cheerless. Unbelievably, Shizune and Misha have not even shown up yet, meaning that the whole classroom is almost completely silent. With such a busy week behind us, apparently not even the hardest workers among us are enthusiastic about getting back to our class schedule.

It takes me longer than I'd care to admit to notice as I approach my desk that it is already occupied. Not in the mood for a confrontation, I drop my bag at the foot of the desk and rest one hand on it, frowning tiredly.

"Naomi," I murmur.

"Good morning." She looks up at me with a smirk, resting her arms behind her head.

Her legs are kicked up on the desk in an attempt to look casual, and this has the unfortunate side effect of making her skirt hang low on her upper legs. It leaves a lot less to the imagination than I think she is intending, and I am forced to hide my instinctual blush.

"Good morning…" I sigh, turning to the side a bit out of embarrassment. "You're in my seat."

"Class hasn't started yet," she replies flippantly.

"Fair enough."

I rub sleep out of my eyes, and Naomi snickers at me.

I take another look around the room at the half-asleep faces of our classmates. "You look rested."

Naomi's bright smile really is striking in comparison.

"You don't," she says flatly.

"I had a long day yesterday."

"Yeah. I slept all day, so, you know." She glances briefly over her shoulder, toward her actual seat in the back of the room. All three desks in the corner are absent, leaving the boy with the cane as the only one in the row.

…I should really start learning my classmates' names.

"You should be proud of yourself for dragging yourself out of bed," Naomi adds with a sigh. "I think it's just going to be you and me today."

"I assume that you mean Natsume's not coming to class?"

"I knocked on her door this morning, and she threw something heavy at it."

"Hm. And is that the reason you're in my seat?"

"I'm in your seat because I wanted to talk to you before class started today. I figured I'd have a chance to, knowing Mutou."

"What does that-? Actually, never mind." I only have the energy to deal with so many concerns at once. "Is there something urgent to discuss?"

"Not super urgent, but you have work to do today. You joined the newspaper club, remember?"

Oh… right. I was feeling a lot less apathetic about that last night than I am now.

"And you have to give me work _right now_?"

"Before you get the chance to slip out at lunch. Which I know you would try to do." She shrugs unapologetically. "It's not a big deal. We just have to take a few photos, since Takashi was MIA yesterday."

"I don't have a-"

Naomi interrupts me by reaching into her backpack and setting down a camera on the desk.

"-camera."

Damn.

"You still have the easiest job, Hisao," Naomi chides.

"I could have skipped class today, you know."

"Ah, but you didn't. And that's how I know Shizune was right about you." She taps her forehead once but keeps her hand there, absentmindedly twirling a lock of blonde hair around the end of her finger.

Obviously, there is not going to be any weaseling out of this one- and I don't have the energy to argue, at any rate.

"Fine," I mutter, defeated. "Now can you please get your feet off my desk and go back to your seat?"

"What's the matter? Are you sick of talking to me already?"

I glance behind my shoulder, at the door to the classroom. "Mutou is going to show up soon. I don't want to get yelled at. And besides, I can see up your skirt when you sit like that."

One of the girls in the row in front of us giggles quietly. There is a brief pause, and then Naomi's whole face turns bright red. With one awkward gesture, she turns to throw her legs off the desk and flattens her skirt across her lap, eyes bulging out of her skull.

…I said that out loud, didn't I?

I guess I'm more out of it than I thought.

"Just because you _can_ look, doesn't mean you _should_ , buddy," Naomi says firmly, hopelessly attempting to hide her embarrassment. I get a certain sense of schadenfreude about that, given that she just dumped Takashi's chores on me.

"I didn't say I was looking. I was just reminding you that you have a skirt on."

"Oh, I bet." She glowers at me menacingly, trying to goad me into an argument.

I should probably defend myself before she gets the wrong idea…

"It's not my fault you-"

…Nope, you know what, on second thought; I definitely should not say that.

"No, no. Go ahead. I am really curious as to what you were going to say there."

I should probably have just stopped talking a couple of minutes ago.

It is too damn early for this.

Naomi and I stare each other down for an intensely uncomfortable few seconds. Before I get the chance to dig myself any deeper, though, the door to the classroom slams open, and Misha explodes into the classroom with a cheerful shout. I have never been so thankful for anyone in my life.

Misha hangs awkwardly in the doorway for a moment, off-put by the dead stares of all the other students, before being unceremoniously shoved the rest of the way in by an irritated Shizune. The two of them briefly sign something to each other before marching to their desks, already making far more noise than anyone else in the room.

"Good _morning_ , Hicchan~!"

"Hi, Misha. Shizune." I turn on my heel to face my rescuers, only to find Shizune giving me a glare similar to Naomi's, though I'm not sure what I did to deserve this one.

"Did you have fun at the festival?" Misha asks brightly.

"Sure. How about you?"

"Mhm, Shicchan and I got up extra early to make sure we would have a chance to visit all the stalls we built!" Shizune signs something, and Misha dampens her grin a little, though nowhere near enough to match Shizune's level of obvious disapproval. "Which is part of the work that you left us alone to do, you know! Your duties to your class are nothing to slack off on!"

"I wasn't slacking. I was doing other work. For the newspaper club." I gesture toward Naomi, who sighs quietly and relaxes her irritated glance.

"Yeah, he has been hard at work for us," Naomi explains coolly. "It's pretty hard to argue that the school newspaper doesn't count as a duty to the class or the school, isn't it?"

Misha, still grinning, signs this to Shizune, who seems genuinely taken aback (and perhaps slightly amused) by this direct challenge. "Even still, the Student Council really could have used Hicchan's help. He had obligations to us, first and foremost!"

"Mm, not so, Miss President. He's a member of the newspaper club. Therefore, that's where his obligations are, _first and foremost_. It's hardly his fault that you two couldn't find anyone else to do your manual labor for you."

Naomi smiles confidently as Shizune struggles to come up with a retort to that. It takes guts to stand up to Shizune like that, I think, although thankfully this debate seems much more good-natured than Shizune and Lilly's argument last week.

"Fair enough~!" Misha chirps, interpreting Shizune's words with undue enthusiasm. "But that does not explain your flagrant disregard for the rules right now, Miss Inoue!"

Shizune props both hands on her desk and leans into it, pursing her lips at Naomi, who laughs out loud.

Seems like an out. "I think she would like her desk back, Naomi," I add quickly.

"Funny, looks to me like you're the only one without a desk right now, Hisao," replies Naomi.

Shizune and Misha both turn to me suddenly, and I shrug at them. They both take their seats, leaving me standing tiredly in front of the three of them.

"That's just not fair," I groan.

"Well, you are welcome to take my seat at the back of the room, Hisao. It's plenty comfortable. Quieter, too."

Naomi waves a hand to gesture to her seat and quickly spots Hanako, who has settled there and opened a book. She's so quiet; I never even heard her come in the room.

Apparently Naomi didn't, either, as her expression completely shifts when she takes notice. "Eh… don't want to make a scene."

And with that, Naomi finally relinquishes my desk to me, pushing forward the camera she got for me to the edge for me to take. I'm a little jarred by the tone shift.

"I will be seeing _you_ after class today," she declares, wagging a finger in my face as she passes by me. "Don't forget."

She takes her seat in the back of the room without another word, glancing once in the direction of Hanako before getting out her school supplies. The two of them don't even acknowledge each other.

With a sigh of relief, I sink into my own chair. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I was feeling a lot less tired when I woke up this morning.

"What are you doing with Inoue after class today, Hicchan~?" Misha asks quietly, leaning into her desk with a devious smile.

I roll my eyes. "Club work. And it will be keeping me very busy. Very, very busy. All afternoon."

"Haha, did you think I was going to ask you to do something for us?" Pouting slightly, Misha glances back to Shizune for a moment, who raises an eyebrow at her. "No, it's just that Shicchan has said in the past that Inoue is very difficult. I think it's interesting that you two are friends now!"

"Well, she can't be that bad if she is willing to defend me from you two."

Misha laughs loudly enough to shake the room, which only reminds me of how quiet everyone else is being. It seems like an eternity before Mutou finally arrives.

* * *

The entire day of classes passes me by almost completely without incident. The lectures are long and oppressively dull, as though even the teachers have lost the will to carry on with their lives today. I nearly miss the lunch period just absentmindedly filling out problems from my textbook, and by mid-afternoon Misha's gratuitous laughter is the only thing that keeps me from falling asleep.

I probably would have forgotten about my club obligations, too, if it weren't for the camera making a giant lump at the bottom of my backpack. It's a clunky thing, clearly old equipment that the club has been using for a while now. The newspaper probably doesn't get the same kind of attention from faculty as some of the more popular clubs.

A quiet sigh escapes me. I realize a beeline for the door would probably save me, but by the time that occurs to me Naomi has already positioned herself defensively by the exit. The look on her face tells me she knew I would try to escape even before I did.

"You sure look ready to go," Naomi remarks sarcastically as I approach. "Still tired, huh?"

"Yeah, a little." I pull out the camera from my backpack, examining it in my hands. "So what do you need me to do?"

"Nothing much, I promise. I just want to get a few pictures of the festival setup before they take everything down."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"It's not. So c'mon."

Without waiting for me, Naomi takes off down the hallway, straight toward the stairwell. I follow her, impressed as always by her energy.

While there are still plenty of people wandering around on campus, everything feels much less crowded out now that the festival is over. The stalls from yesterday are now all abandoned, replete with loose-hanging posters and paper lanterns from the night before. It's an extremely stark difference compared to yesterday, where everything was so densely packed that I could barely tell where anything was.

It's hard to look around and follow Naomi at the same time. She glances around the same as me, but firmly and with purpose- I suppose she's looking for something she wants to photograph. She reminds me of a police dog, the way she keeps shooting her head back and forth like she's sniffing out a photo op. She seems strikingly passionate when she gets focused like this.

"Here, Hisao," Naomi finally declares, planting herself in front of an arbitrary stall at the corner of the auxiliary building. Making a square with her hands, she squints as though looking through the lens of an imaginary camera. "I wonder if we could do, like, a before-after thing with some of these stalls? That would be kind of neat."

"Uh… don't you need a 'before' picture for that?" I ask.

"Oh. Right." She shrugs, then scoots out of the way to get out of the shot. "Okay, shoot."

"Alright."

It seems like a pretty uninteresting shot for a picture to me, but I suppose there's a reason I'm not making the decisions about what to photograph.

I lift the camera to my face for a moment before it occurs to me that I have no idea how to operate it. I'm too prideful to ask for help, though; it should be simple enough. You just have to hit the- no… why are there so many damn buttons?

"Oh, give me that!" Naomi snaps impatiently, snatching it out of my hands before I get the chance to figure it out.

"I was doing it."

"No, you weren't." With a sneer, Naomi shoves me out of the way to take the picture in my stead. "Ugh. Men."

She snaps two photos, one with the flash on. Still, I totally could have done it if I had had another minute with the thing.

She slings the camera around her neck by the strap attached to the back and turns on her heel, hands on her hips. Something rather obvious occurs to me for the first time.

"If you're going to take the pictures yourself, then do you really need me to be here?"

"Of course not. But I had to make sure you were dedicated to our cause somehow!" Naomi laughs at my unimpressed frown. "Besides, you're still new. You could use a friend to hang out with you, right? Don't act like this is so bad."

As though my pride wasn't damaged enough already, it is a little humiliating to get called out for not having anyone else to hang out with. Naomi seems to take pride in that, like she considers it a personal victory to have figured something out about me.

Leading me around campus, Naomi finds over a dozen spots that she spontaneously decides would make good pictures for the newspaper, though in her own words we probably won't end up using more than one or two of them. Unfortunately, most of what remains from the festival has pretty obviously been used already, meaning that there isn't much that would actually make sense to put in the newspaper.

By the end, she even lets me figure out how to take the photos myself. But she takes special pains to let me know that she will not help me in any way, shape or form.

…I am beginning to suspect this whole outing was just an excuse for Naomi to waste my time.

Our small stroll around campus eventually leads us to the stairwell near the dorms, where Rin's mural remains proudly sprawled across the wall.

"Neat, huh? We definitely need a picture of this," Naomi says quietly, appraising the mural for herself.

The whole thing is too long to capture in one photo, so I take a few from different angles. The picture of Rin's mural is the one photo I know for certain will be used in the paper, so I am careful to make sure I can get a usable one.

Unfortunately, Naomi seems determined to prevent that from happening, as she decides now is the perfect moment to lean gingerly against the center of the wall and throw up her hands.

"Would you get out of the way?" I ask, making no effort to conceal my irritation.

"Work around me. This is good practice."

"Okay, now you're just being bothersome for no reason."

She laughs quietly, tilting her head down. "Yeah… I'm bored. I don't know why I let you have the camera. I'm better at it, anyway."

"This is the last one. You will have plenty of time to be bored when we're finished with this."

Defeated, she slinks off to the side and takes a seat on the bottom stair. "I wonder if the others skipped class like Natsume did."

"Wouldn't surprise me," I say with a shrug, finally raising the camera to finish up. "I'm the only one that slept in yesterday. So they were probably a lot more burnt out than I was."

"Oh, yeah. You got the chance to sleep in, since you didn't actually have to do any club work."

"Yeah."

"But you do now!"

"Yeah." I lift the camera impatiently in one hand. "And I just did, so you can get off my case."

"I know. I'm just thinking, you're officially part of the gang now! I think that's kind of cool." She kicks up her feet and steps off of the staircase to approach me, taking the camera out of my hand. "Honestly, I didn't really expect my lame recruitment attempts to work."

Naomi takes a step back, leaning against the wall again, and points the camera straight at me. Taken by surprise, I instinctively throw up my hand to cover my face.

"Hey! What are you doing?" I ask indignantly.

She snickers. "What's it look like I'm doing? I'm taking your picture!"

"…Why?"

"Because you're the only person in the club whose picture we don't have! I need a headshot of you to print alongside the stuff you write!"

I lower my hand. "But I haven't written anything!"

"No, not yet…" She pouts cutely, rapping her fingers alongside the side of the camera.

Then- after waiting a moment to lull me into a false sense of security, of course- she throws up the camera again and snaps a picture of my face. Not that it could possibly be usable, of course.

"That's not going to be a good photo," I say matter-of-factly.

"Of course it's not," Naomi replies with a raised eyebrow. "Which is why you should smile and give me a good one, so I don't have to use it."

…Ah.

Damn it.

"Fine."

I give my best fake smile. Naomi seems pleased by the victory, and takes my picture with a great deal of pride.

"Happy now?" I sigh, taking off toward the dorms.

She drops the camera straight into her bag and slings it over her shoulder, hurrying to catch up with me so she can get a better look at my face.

She hesitates for just a moment, smiling gently. "…You're kinda shy, huh?"

"Huh? I don't know."

"Hm."

I'm not sure what to make of that. She always seems unduly interested in me, in one way or another. It's not that it bothers me- I think she's rather interesting, too, after all- but I have to admit that it's disorienting. I don't think I've ever met someone quite like Naomi before.

We break apart at the dorms, though she seems almost reluctant to go off on her own.

"Thanks for your help today, Hisao. I promise, next time I hassle you, it'll be for something more important."

"It's alright. I didn't mind today."

"I didn't think you did. But I'm still glad to hear you say that." She looks me over once more, then turns toward the girls' dorm and throws up a hand to dismiss me. "I'll see you later, Hisao."

"See ya, Naomi."

With that, she wanders off, hands thrown up confidently behind her.

I watch her walk all the way to the door before taking off on my own, fascinated.


	6. Act 2 - Deadlines

I've been staring at the ceiling for I don't know how long. That's something I used to do in the hospital, especially early on, before I got used to being there. It depresses me for no good reason.

It feels like the whole week has breezed right past me- my entire perception of time is distorted right now. Our summer break is already close, and I'm sure at this time last year I would have killed for time to pass quickly. Now, though, I wish it wouldn't. I am just starting to get acclimated to living here at Yamaku, and the idea of having to go back home again would just throw me off even more.

I was hoping to get more sleep than this today, but it just isn't happening. As long as the sun is starting to rise, my odds of falling to sleep again are close to none. Lying in bed is a waste of a perfectly good Sunday morning, but I don't have the motivation to do anything else. It's very nice out, which means it would probably be a great opportunity to take a walk or something. Theoretically.

I pull my covers over my head. Unable to sleep even though I'm barely rested. Hopeless.

Some time passes while I'm curled up like this. It's not really comfortable, but then that doesn't seem to be in the cards for me today…

Then, out of absolutely nowhere, a crash rings out from the other end of the room, and I shoot out of bed like a rocket, tossing my covers off the side of the bed and onto the floor.

I glance around, but there isn't anything there. I know I didn't imagine it; it sounded like something collided with the wall. Like a baseball. Or an elephant.

It's quiet again just long enough for me to relax again, then the crash rings out twice as loudly. My whole door shakes on the other side of the room. I guess that's someone's idea of knocking. Apparently nobody told them that you're supposed to use your fist for that, not a sledgehammer.

"Who is it?" I shout, not realizing how gravelly my own voice sounds.

"It's me!" the voice shouts back gruffly. Doesn't sound like Kenji, at least. So that's a plus.

Irritated, I climb out of bed and give myself a moment to stretch before getting the door. Whoever is there pounds on it again as I'm walking over.

"Would you calm down? I'm coming!" I swing open the door and am immediately forced to duck to the side of the door frame to dodge the fist that was about to hammer down on my door again.

"About time."

A patch of black hair appears in the doorway, and I panic for a second before realizing it's much too clean and kempt to be Kenji's.

"Hokuto. What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. What were you doing in here?"

He steps through the door without asking, swinging the door shut behind him with an air of authority. I'm taken slightly aback and take a moment to straighten myself out.

"What the hell do you _think_ I was doing? It's Sunday! I was sleeping!"

"Sleeping? _Still_? Do you have any idea how late it is?"

I glance once at the clock. "It's barely 9:00!"

"Exactly. I've been up for two hours already. You could have gotten a lot of work done in that time if you weren't slacking." He turns away from me. "It wasn't easy to find you. You don't talk much with the people on this floor, do you?"

Hokuto rubs his chin as he looks around my room, appraising it with a judgmental glare. I was not in a great mood as is, and it takes a certain amount of willpower not to punch him.

"Look, you found me. Now what do you want?" I ask shortly.

"Get dressed. You're needed." He turns back to me with crossed arms.

"Needed? Right now?"

"That's right, Hisao. Procrastination is a killer. We have deadlines to meet. I warned you about this."

"I didn't procrastinate on anything! What are you talking about?" I wander back over to my bed to pull my sheets off the floor. "Naomi is the only one that even gave me any work to do this week, and that was way back on Monday."

"Not you. The girls. And Takashi." Hokuto sighs roughly, crossing his arms. "Natsume spent all week giving out orders and doing virtually nothing. That woman will be the death of me. She thinks she is my mother. But she isn't." He stares me down harshly and repeats himself, to cement the point. "She _isn_ ' _t_."

"Yeah. I figured." I rub sleep out of my eyes, not following. "If she's the one that procrastinated, then what do you need me for?"

"This is a group effort. We need to be finished by this afternoon. You are an extra set of hands. So you are obliged to use them."

"I never agreed to that!"

"Actually, you did." He shoots me a smug grin. "Welcome to the club, by the way."

"Damn it. Fine. Hang on."

He seems torn between laughing at me and scolding me, though I am in the mood for neither.

I wander over to my desk and dry-swallow one of my pills, which makes Hokuto raise an eyebrow.

I glower at him. "I need to get ready. Get out."

He throws up his hands guiltily. "Fine, no need to be rude."

Then he stalks out. I can't believe I agreed to put up with this.

I take my time getting my uniform on and going through my morning routine, just to make Hokuto wait. I even take the time to properly make my bed, which I haven't bothered to do in some time.

Hokuto looks on the verge of an aneurism when I finally step out of my room with my uniform on, but he says nothing about it, so I assume he is giving me the benefit of the doubt. Surprising, considering he does not seem like the type to pull punches.

"So what do you actually need me to do?" I ask as we make our way out of the dormitories.

"Formatting. You have the easiest job of any of us."

Now where have I heard that before?

"Why would you want _me_ to do that? I haven't even seen what you guys are putting in the paper yet."

"Everyone else is busy. Talk to Natsume about it. She already knows how she wants everything to be laid out."

"Then why doesn't she just do the formatting herself…?"

"She prefers not to." He glances suspiciously at me from over his shoulder.

"I thought everybody preferred not to."

He scoffs loudly. "You're going to get torn to shreds working with us if you are this much of a contrarian all the time, Hisao."

"I just don't understand how you guys divvy up work. It seems really counterintuitive to me."

"That's because we have a system that works for us, and it is difficult for outsiders to get a grasp on it. I have always said this." He skids to a stop just before we reach the entrance to the academic building and turns toward me, crossing his arms expectantly. "Naomi has been insisting for ages that we needed more club members so we could get our work done, but she does not understand a thing about efficiency. We were better off before, when everyone was on the same page. Now I am stuck having to explain everything to _you_."

He frowns tiredly, as though it hasn't even occurred to him that what he's saying might be insulting. Somehow, it doesn't make me feel any less insulted.

"I've done everything you guys have asked of me so far. I'm doing the best I can. You don't have to attack me."

"I know that." He glares at me impatiently for a moment, then shrugs and gestures toward the entrance. "It's not your fault. I blame Naomi, not you. She and I have been butting heads about the operation of the club for an eternity. It's because there is not technically anyone in charge. I've suggested we put someone in charge before, of course, but you can imagine that Naomi would rather that position go to her than me, so…"

"I thought Kawate was supposed to be in charge."

He immediately cracks up. I think it's the first time I've ever made him laugh.

"Trust me, even you have more authority than Kawate does. He is only our advisor because his superiors asked him to do it."

"So it really is as chaotic among you as it looks, then."

"…It must be," he says with a grimace.

"Then the least you could do is answer my questions."

He is hesitant even to make that small concession, and ends up compromising by shrugging and taking off into the building. "This is what you need to know. Takashi is usually in charge of formatting and organizing the paper, because everyone else writes and he doesn't. Since he is so unreliable, though, one of the rest of us often ends up having to do that instead. For now, it will fall to you, since you don't have any other work you have to be doing instead. The only one that we never make do it is Natsume, and that's only because she's arthritic and typing makes her uncomfortable."

"Oh. Okay. That makes sense."

I can't think of a better response than that. I'm just glad my surprise didn't come through in my response. I genuinely had no idea that Natsume was arthritic. It never even would have occurred to me to ask something like that.

There are so many people that look normal, and the longer I'm here the more frustrated it makes me. I'm still constantly treading through a minefield, and I know eventually I'm going to say something to someone that I'm really going to regret.

Arthritis isn't a very big deal in the grand scheme of things- or at least, I don't think it is, from my admittedly limited understanding of it- but there are all kinds of really horrible, life-threatening diseases and disorders that you could never gauge just by looking at someone… like arrhythmia, for instance. I'd be willing to bet that most of the sickest people here look just like anybody else.

'Sick' is probably the wrong word to use. But then… healthy people don't need to take seventeen pills when they wake up in the morning.

I suppose there's a reason nobody talks about it.

Doing his best not to grumble to himself, Hokuto leads me through the first floor and into the writing lab where the newspaper club first convened. His entrance is much less dramatic than Naomi's was then, and he heads straight for a computer as soon as we both step inside. He doesn't even bother to say hello to Naomi, Natsume or Hiro, all three of whom are crowded around a computer at the table furthest from the door.

There is a beat while Naomi finishes typing something, but she rushes out of her seat as soon as she spots me. The other two converge on where she was sitting, and Hiro slumps into her chair with Natsume looming over him.

Naomi waves briefly to me and makes an over-the-top sigh. "Oh, my hero! We have an editor!"

"Morning," I reply curtly.

"Hello, Hisao," Natsume says politely, taking a step away from the computer as Hiro settles into the chair. "Congratulations on showing up. You already have a better attendance record than Takashi."

Naomi lets out a laugh that ends up being more of a snort, and she stops short out of embarrassment. It's a little cute, and I'm surprised by the fact that it gets me to smile despite my mood.

"I didn't really have a choice in the matter. Hokuto invaded my room," I say honestly.

"Well, it's about time. I told him to make himself useful," Natsume replies with a smirk, fixing her glasses confidently.

Hokuto grunts indifferently, apparently doing his best to tune her out.

"You drink coffee, right, Hisao?" Naomi asks out of nowhere, after a brief pause.

I turn my head to look at her, and a Styrofoam cup immediately hits me in the face, bouncing off harmlessly. I only barely react in time to catch it.

"Uh. Yeah," I say with a chuckle.

"Thought so." She jabs a thumb over her shoulder to point at the small coffee pot resting on a hot plate at the end of the conference table. "Help yourself. It's still fresh; we just made it."

"Thanks."

The steam from the coffee pot billows out from my cup as I pour it, and I breathe it in with relief. I don't normally take my coffee completely black, but I am in a hurry to have something to help me wake up a little. Hot coffee in the morning is good for the soul.

Hiro murmurs absentmindedly as he types something, which draws Naomi's attention, and she sighs loudly when she sees him in her seat. After he fails to respond to her disapproving glare, she shoves into his chair with her hip to push him out of the way, bending over the computer to take over again. Hiro sighs deferentially.

"Check this out, Hisao! It's the crown jewel," she chirps. "What do you think?"

I walk over calmly, cupping my drink with both hands, and lean over Naomi to look at the computer screen, where she's written a small, dense blurb of text.

… _our newspaper is completely student-run…_

… _make a meaningful contribution to the school…_

… _demonstrating collaboration and leadership skills…_

… _opportunity to meet interesting new people!_

It's an ad for the club. I'm not sure why Naomi cares what I think about this; it's pretty inoffensive and boring. Or at least at first it is, until I finish the paragraph itself.

At the bottom is the picture and name of everyone who works for the newspaper. Takashi is a lot more muscular than I imagined him. I guess it's because I was picturing him as lethargic.

My picture looks unpleasant and awkward. The smile is obviously forced.

"You just had to find an excuse to use that horrible photo, didn't you?"

"Ugh, you don't like it? I think it's a cute photo! Yours and Hiro's both, actually. You look exactly like the sweet, camera-shy sort of guys that people expect to be writing on a newspaper!"

I glance at Hiro, who shifts his gaze waywardly to avoid making eye contact with me. I'm a little stupefied for a moment. "Naomi, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Advertising is like psychological warfare," Naomi explains, tapping a finger to the computer screen to gesture to the photos. "People are going to be a lot more inclined to join the club if they find the people enticing." She laughs and shoots me an earnest look. "It's a tradition to put an ad for the newspaper club in the back of the newspaper every year after the community festival, since we're advertising every _other_ club in one way or another. Takashi joined last year because of that ad. But only because he had a crush on me."

"That isn't true," Natsume says impassively from behind us. "Naomi has been saying that all year, but he had a girlfriend when he joined."

"As if having a girlfriend stops you from having a crush on someone else," hums Naomi.

"Whatever helps protect your ego."

"Hey. Okay. Hold on." Naomi swivels around in her chair suddenly to look at Natsume. "Now, how long was he dating that girl before he joined the club?"

"Around half a year."

"And how long did it take him to break up with her after he joined?"

"A month and a half…"

"I rest my case." Naomi smirks and glances back to me. "Know your enemy, Hisao. Know your enemy."

I point to the screen again. "Doesn't that make people who want to join the club the 'enemy'…?"

"Hey, all's fair in love and war. Advertising is dirty business. Duped _you_ into this, didn't I?"

I take a sip of my coffee. It's barely 9:30, on a Sunday morning, and here I am standing in the computer lab… I guess I did get kind of duped. Not sure exactly by _what_ , though.

Naomi even manages to get a chuckle out of Hokuto with that one.

"So what do you want me to do with your advertisement?" I ask.

"Put it right on the back cover. Big and bold." Naomi makes a broad gesture with her hands in front of the computer screen. "'Looking for new club opportunities?' Add in two exclamation points after it."

"That seems a little over-the-top…"

"Exactly!"

Excited, Naomi smacks her hand down next to the keyboard, shaking the whole table.

"Naomi, get out of the way. Hiro has more to write," Natsume commands bluntly. Naomi rolls her eyes, but yields the chair anyway. I don't know how Natsume does that.

I finish off my small cup of coffee and immediately pour another one from the pot. I don't think there will be much left of it for long.

"Take a seat, Hisao," Natsume says after a minute, much less commandingly. "Have you used the school computers much?"

"Not at all." I shrug and step around Hiro's chair to slump into the seat next to him. "But if I'm gonna help, I have to start somewhere right?"

"It isn't complicated. We keep all the stories together in a folder while they are being edited, and add them to the document with the formatted paper once they're finished. All you need to do is move them from one to the other and make it look presentable."

"I can probably do that."

"Well, you're going to have to."

With a quiet hum, Natsume takes a step to the side and leans against the wall. She peers from behind her glasses like a suspicious teacher, making sure she can watch mine and Hiro's computer at the same time. It's a little funny.

I barely have a spare moment to turn the computer monitor on before someone taps on it from behind. With a glare, I look up to find Hokuto watching me intently from the other side of the table.

"You're going to have to work fast today, Hisao," he says briefly, after a moment of thought. "Kawate needs a preliminary copy of this to review early in the afternoon so that we can have it finalized and printed in bulk by tomorrow."

So no pressure, then.

I shrug helplessly at him. "Uh… I mean, I'll do my best, but-"

"Pfft. Don't worry about it, Hisao," Naomi says brightly. "There's a reason everyone got up so early today. We'll knock this out by lunch."

With a bored sigh, Naomi puffs out her cheeks and rests her hands on the back of my chair, rapping her fingers along the back of it. I don't think she likes not having anything to do.

"Uh… you are welcome to supervise, Naomi."

"Oh, Hisao... that's your first mistake. Everyone knows that's Natsume's job."

Hokuto stalks suspiciously back to his own computer, but even as he does I become suddenly aware of a creeping sense of claustrophobia.

"Well… if it's Natsume's job, you don't have to supervise, but you're kind of crowding me…"

"That's your second mistake, Hisao… assuming that she wouldn't do it anyway," Natsume says with a laugh from her spot on the wall. "You still have a lot to learn."


	7. Act 2 - Comedy of Errors

It is usually pretty easy to guess whether Shizune and Misha have shown up to class yet before I even get to the door, which is why I am surprised to find them both situated at their desks first thing in the morning despite a completely quiet classroom. Misha, uncharacteristically, seems to be preoccupied with schoolwork, leaving Shizune sitting quietly next to her with her nose in a book.

I take a moment to glance around the room as I head to my desk. Naomi apparently hasn't shown up yet even though Natsume is already here, surprising given that they usually come in as a pair. Attendance is always spottiest on Monday morning, which is clear from the four or five missing students. Granted, some of them may just not have gotten to class yet, but I am hardly early myself. Then again, class is supposed to be starting just about now, and yet there is still no sign of Mutou anywhere.

I wave briefly to Natsume before heading to my seat, and Shizune lifts her head just enough to greet me.

"Good morning," I say uncertainly.

Obviously, she can't hear me, but apparently she can tell I said hello because she gives me a smile and a small wave. Unfortunately, that is about the extent of our ability to communicate with one another.

"Misha."

"Hm?" Hearing her name called, Misha throws her head up from her desk, and the drills in her hair bob off the side of her head like yo-yos. "Oh, sorry, Hicchan! How are you this morning?"

"I'm alright." I take my seat and glance at the schoolwork on her desk, which she conspicuously covers with one arm. "Isn't it a little late to be finishing your homework?"

"Mm… Shicchan and I were pretty busy yesterday…"

"Well, did _she_ finish it?"

Misha glances over at Shizune with a self-conscious frown. "…She's better at it than me."

"Could have asked her for help."

"I know that! We usually do our homework together." She energetically jabs a finger in the air, which slowly droops as she trails off. "It's just that yesterday we had Student Council obligations, so I couldn't work on it until late at night… and then I kind of… fell asleep…"

"Why didn't you just do it on Saturday afternoon?"

"Why are you so curious, Hicchan~?" Misha asks with a grin, turning away from her papers for the first time. "Didn't you finish _yours_?"

"Sure I did. But I was busy yesterday, too. I thought it was pretty easy, which is why I was curious…"

Apparently this embarrasses Misha a little bit, because she immediately becomes a little defensive and turns back to her desk. "What were you so busy doing?"

"Newspaper stuff." I shrug. "Not that it's any of your business."

"Hahaha! If you keep spending time with Inoue, you're going to make Shicchan jealous, you know! She is already a little upset that you haven't been hanging out with us lately."

"What? I thought you wanted me for work…"

"Well, maybe it's a little bit of both…!"

She giggles loudly and waves a hand at me before making another attempt at finishing her homework, which completely and immediately deadens her enthusiasm.

A few minutes pass in silence before anyone else enters the room, though to my surprise it is not Mutou but Naomi, who has apparently decided to come to class separate from Natsume for the first time in almost a week.

She spots me almost immediately and smirks, throwing her backpack over her shoulder to fish through one of the pockets and taking off toward my desk. Shizune sets down her book with irritation as she approaches.

"Morning, Hisao," Naomi murmurs absentmindedly, not looking up from her backpack.

I lean into my desk. "You do realize your desk is back there, right?"

"I don't need your lip." With a sigh, she pulls a rolled-up newspaper out of her backpack and drops it limply on my desk. "Take one of these. I have seven, and they're clogging up my backpack."

"Cool. Thanks." It's actually fortuitous that Naomi was carrying around spares, because I never got a copy yesterday afternoon. Maybe I would have if I hadn't left early to get my homework done… if only I were as dedicated to extracurricular obligations as Misha is.

Naomi stands around for a moment as she readjusts her backpack, giving Shizune just enough time to raise a hand above her head and get everyone's attention with a loud snap. Misha turns to her, distressed, and Shizune gestures to Naomi before signing something.

"How do I file a complaint with the newspaper, Inoue?"

"Oh, man." Naomi throws up her hands, unimpressed. "I don't know. Nobody has ever filed a formal complaint before. We don't have a procedure. What is the problem?"

"You're publishing libel." Misha giggles aloud as she interprets this, which prompts a harsh glare from Shizune.

"We _publish_ school news. Is this about the food shortage during the festival? Because as far as I've heard that can all be traced back to a filing error that the _Student Council_ made."

Shizune frowns disapprovingly but hesitates when she tries to come up with a fair retort.

"Look, I didn't write that story. Natsume did." Naomi points a finger toward the back of the room. "If you have a problem, you should be taking it up with her." She glances at me out of the corner of her eye. "Hisao's in the newspaper club, too. Why didn't you go after him?"

Gee, thanks, Naomi.

I shrug hurriedly. "Hey, I don't want any part of this!"

Shizune and Naomi both shoot me the same look, and I slide back in my seat.

"Hicchan is just an editor!" After a moment of thought, Shizune turns back to Naomi and taps Misha on the shoulder. "Besides, I thought you were supposed to be in charge, Inoue."

"Well, everyone knows I'm the boss, but only in practice. Technically, there is nobody in charge."

"If you are going to insist on being the boss then it should be your duty to speak for your newspaper. I take issue with what is being published, not just written, so that is a problem of leadership! You are making me look bad!" Misha bursts out laughing after interpreting this, which prompts a brief sign-language exchange between her and Shizune. "Oh, what Shicchan meant to say was, it makes the _Student Council_ look bad~!"

Naomi crosses her arms smugly. "We report the truth. If you don't want the Student Council to look bad, then maybe you shouldn't do things that make you look bad."

"That's an easy way to deflect blame. The reputation of our student government reflects on the whole school. You should show some respect for authority!"

"Speak for yourself. It's the media's job to keep the people in power in check, Hakamichi." Naomi smirks condescendingly. "One day, when you're supreme dictator of the universe, we are going to be the only ones keeping you in line. Maybe you should show a little respect yourself! Personally, I am proud of what we publish."

I turn the newspaper in my hands to the second page, where Natsume's treasonous article is printed. Shizune's name does not actually appear anywhere in it, but I imagine she takes any criticism of the Student Council as a personal affront. Not hard to believe, considering she literally does half of the work for it herself, or possibly more.

"On that note," Naomi continues proudly, "I think this issue turned out really well, Hisao. You did a great job considering this was your first time."

I flip through the pages to the back cover and give a small shrug. "Thanks, but I just did what Natsume told me to. And besides, it's my job now, right?"

"Natsume is even more of a control freak than I am, so as far as I'm concerned just being able to meet her specifications is pretty impressive by itself. And technically it's Takashi's job."

"Oh. Right."

Takashi and I are listed with our photographs side-by-side at the very bottom of the page, below Naomi's giant advertisement for the newspaper club. We're both listed as "Editor", though as far as I know Takashi did not actually contribute anything to this week's paper.

"I know you don't like your picture, but you have to admit: it feels kind of good to see your name in print, doesn't it?" asks Naomi encouragingly.

…Yeah, actually, it kind of does. It surprises me, considering how little it feels like I actually contributed, but I feel a small twinge of pride at being credited here. I suppose when it's in print, it feels like I've made some kind of permanent impression on something. That's an unusual feeling.

"I dunno. I guess."

"'You guess'. Alright, whatever, tough guy. You'll get a taste for it; everyone always does."

"Maybe."

Naomi snickers at that, but gets cut off before she can speak as the classroom door bursts open and Mutou barrels in, looking exhausted.

He only glances up once from the book in his hand, gesturing toward Naomi. "Please take your seat, Inoue."

With a sigh, Naomi slumps away from my desk and starts off toward the back of the room, exchanging glances with Natsume.

"I'm sorry I'm late everyone; I just want to get right to work today." Mutou drops the book he was carrying on his desk and glances around the room briefly, still disheveled. "Okay, we'll be doing group work, so once everyone is paired up, I'll collect your homework and we can start class.

Misha glances back and forth between him and her desk. "…Uh, oh."

* * *

"This is the end for me…"

"No, it isn't."

"Yes, it is…"

"Why can't it be the end for you in 45 minutes, when we're actually finished?"

"You don't understand, Hicchan…" Misha sighs, sprawling her arms out on the desk with an exaggerated pout. "This doesn't come naturally to me… I don't have the motivation for it…"

Despite her imitation of fatigue, she still apparently has enough energy to jump up and sign it all to Shizune.

"Some luck I have, stuck with this group."

I say that, and yet looking around the room I am the only one who doesn't just have a single partner (save for Hanako, of course, who is working alone). But I don't think three heads are better than two unless they are all actually working together.

"It's okay, Hicchan… I'm already on thin ice with Mutou, he can just scold me for this when he stops to scold me about my homework…"

"Misha…"

I take a few moments to figure out how to coax her out of it. In the meantime, Shizune- apparently not feeling very diplomatic- comes up with a solution of her own, and smacks Misha on the back of the head with a rolled up stack of papers.

"Ow!" Misha whines sorely, though her grimace quickly morphs into a smile out of affection. Shizune, in turn, signs something that does not seem very affectionate, but Misha doesn't translate it. They have a brief conversation that I am completely excluded from.

"Are you done?" I ask curtly.

"Shicchan says I'm being a defeatist… but I don't think I can be a defeatist if I've already been defeated. You should settle it, Hicchan~!"

Misha grins, though there is a hint of guilt to it which reads to me like stalling.

"I don't think it really matters one way or the other."

Shizune glares at me for not taking her side and signs something directly at me. "That's a copout!" Misha chirps.

Even when she is supposed to be on my side, Shizune can never let me off the hook for anything. Maybe Hanako has the right idea.

I rap my pencil on my desk impatiently and briefly lock eyes with Mutou, who has apparently been solely focused on our group for the last couple of minutes. Misha's voice is easy to hear even despite all the other groups working… if we get in trouble, I will never let these two forget it for as long as we live.

Mutou narrows his eyes, clearly considering whether or not to say anything, but before he gets the opportunity, our stare-down is interrupted by a well-timed cry from the back of the room.

"-Excuse me!"

Naomi's voice cuts through the noise in the room in an instant, more of a shriek than a request. She stands and shoots a hand in the air with cold urgency, and everyone else's voice dies down near simultaneously.

"Mutou, I think I'm about to have a attack."

…Oh, God, that doesn't sound good.

Mutou seems alarmed for about half a second before collecting himself, letting out a quiet groan and putting a hand to his head uncertainly. After a moment of thought, he says, "You're sure? Are you fit to go to the nurse?"

"Err…" Naomi puts a hand to her forehead and blinks slowly, apparently considering the question. "…I don't think so. –Call the nurse, please."

"Ooe, would you please…?" Mutou says sternly, taking on a serious tone that I have only heard from him a handful of times before. "Everyone be quiet for a moment."

Anyone who was still murmuring shuts up immediately, save for Naomi and Natsume, who chatter anxiously to each other in the back of the room. The air is tense enough to cut with a knife as Mutou picks up the phone from his desk, even though Naomi herself really does not look all that worried.

Naomi slumps inelegantly onto the ground next to her chair with her arms spread out behind her, and the few people around her pull their desks away to give her more floor space. Hanako leans uneasily on the cabinet in the back of the room with her hands at her chest, looking on the verge of a panic attack.

And then Naomi has a seizure, just like that. On the ground, in the back of the classroom. Natsume rushes to try and help turn her onto her side, but Naomi's whole chest spasms as she does and she rolls right onto her back again. After that, Natsume just throws up her hands and backs away.

The room is extremely quiet and self-conscious for half a minute, like everyone is waiting in suspense for Naomi to injure herself or something. She never seems to; instead she just alternates between convulsing violently for a few seconds and lying still and rigid on the floor.

It's hard to watch- much harder to watch than I would have expected. Maybe it's just the fact that it's one of my friends, but there's something so objectifying about it- like she is completely out of control, at the mercy of her body. Thinking about it makes me sick.

Nothing like this has happened to me- or _around_ me, I suppose- at Yamaku before, though I guess it was bound to sooner or later. I wish it weren't Naomi, not that I would ever want to wish it on anyone else, instead. But with her… it makes me feel especially helpless, just sitting around watching it happen.

Eventually she stops convulsing altogether, and her limbs slump dully to her sides. After about ten seconds of this, Natsume kneels down next to her, and Naomi finally shows some uneasy signs of consciousness.

Mutou approaches quickly and exchanges a glance with Natsume, who straightens her glasses austerely. Naomi half-rolls over and sits up, though she looks very faint.

"Naomi?" Natsume holds onto Naomi's shoulder, speaking slowly and precisely.

Naomi blinks once and tilts her head a little to the side, looking disoriented.

"Naomi?" Natsume repeats. "Are you alright?"

"Mm."

"Yes? Do you know what happened?"

Naomi closes her eyes and nods groggily. "Mhm. Had an attack. I remember."

"Did you hurt yourself?"

"I don't think." She groans quietly and presses her tongue against the inside of her cheek. "Mm. Bit my tongue."

"Is it serious?"

"Don't think so. How long…?"

"About a minute."

"Oh…"

"I'm going to take you to the nurse. Okay?"

"Mm. Yes." Naomi nods again, more firmly in order to be reassuring. "Yes. Thank you."

"Can I help you up?"

"Yeah. Thanks."

Naomi digs her hands into Natsume's shoulder and pulls herself to her feet, stumbling a little. Natsume holds tightly to her side.

"I talked to the nurse," says Mutou. "Will you two be alright on your own?"

"Yes. Thank you," Natsume replies quietly.

"Okay."

"Sorry," mutters Naomi.

"It's alright, Inoue. Just try to get some rest."

"Thanks…"

Naomi straightens herself out a little to shake Natsume off, though Natsume still holds onto her arm. The two of them walk promptly out of the classroom without giving anyone else a second glance, including me.

"Straighten the desks out, please," Mutou instructs as he walks back to the front of the classroom. "Sorry for the interruption. –Erm." Looking a little disheveled, he sorts through a few of the papers on his desk before remembering what he was talking about. "You can continue working. I'll expect your worksheets tomorrow at the beginning of class."

Everyone converges into their groups again like nothing happened. Mutou picks up the phone again, I assume to touch base with the nurse.

Misha slides her chair loudly into her desk and signs something to Shizune, then turns to me. "Are you okay, Hicchan?"

"Huh?" I look Misha uncertainly in the eye, taken a little aback by her look of concern. "Yeah. Of course…"

"You looked really worried about her."

"No, I just… I was just surprised. Has that… happened in class before?"

"Mhm, once or twice. But she's going to be okay! You don't need to be worried about her~!"

"Alright. Thanks."

Misha grins brightly and turns to the side to return to our group work, which Shizune seems more than eager to do as well.

* * *

The rest of the class drags on for an eternity, and I find myself much too distracted to be any use to my group, leaving poor Shizune with her hands full between Misha and me.

Natsume returns to the classroom before too long, and works on her own for the rest of the class. I can't help but notice how odd it seems to see Natsume and Hanako both working alone even though they are the only two without a partner, and they're sitting a desk apart from one another.

I do my best not to think about Naomi, which of course makes it very difficult to think about anything else. My thoughts drift back to the festival, and how forlorn she looked sitting around by herself when I went to see her. It seems unfair to me that Natsume couldn't stay there with her.

At the same time, this same exact thing happened to her just last week… does she have to get stuck by herself in the nurse's office every single time she has an attack? I feel so guilty leaving her by herself, and yet I don't know why I feel any sense of obligation in the first place…

By the time Mutou lets us out for lunch, my mind is basically made up, even while I realize how petty and counterproductive it is. I stand to leave at the earliest opportunity, but am swiftly cut off by Shizune, who smiles and signs something to my face.

"Do you want to have lunch with us, Hicchan? We could finish our homework together. That is, if you aren't too busy running off with the oh-so-important newspaper club…!" Misha says it without a hint of Shizune's obviously intended sarcasm. Sometimes I wonder if Shizune is even aware of the conspicuous disconnect between her signing and Misha's interpreting.

I raise a hand and awkwardly attempt to brush past her, though Shizune makes this difficult. "Sorry. I already have plans."

"Just because I was going to invite you doesn't mean it isn't rude to assume, Hisao." As though conjured by my attempt to escape the conversation, Natsume materializes at my side, even more expectant than Shizune, as though that's possible.

"Oh." I turn and take a step backward to face the small crowd gathered around Shizune's desk. "Uh, thanks for the offer, Natsume, but I was talking about something else. I was thinking I might… go check on Naomi, see if she's doing okay…"

"Is that so?" Natsume raises an eyebrow with intrigue. "Well, I doubt there will be much to see, to be honest. She's probably asleep right now. But if she isn't, wish her well for me."

"Do you want to come along?"

"What I _want_ is to eat lunch. But I think Naomi would rather see you on your own anyway."

"What? Why?"

"I just think that sounds like a personal affair," Natsume replies dodgily. "But thanks for the invitation. I'll see you this afternoon."

With a flourish, Natsume excuses herself, leaving me alone with the Student Council brigade. The two of them sign briefly to each other, but Misha doesn't translate it, as though I wasn't feeling out of the loop enough as it is.

"We will excuse you this time, Hicchan, since it's not a matter of business," Misha declares loudly, getting out of her seat. "Tell Inoue we said hi, okay~?"

"Will do."

"Okey-dokey! See you later, Hicchan!"

Misha brushes past me, and Shizune follows shortly after. I always feel like they know something I don't when they starting signing in private to each other.

I realize I am setting myself up for embarrassment by going to see Naomi, of course, but I'm not going to feel comfortable until I do, so it's not much of a deterrent. Without anything else to do beforehand, I sling my bag over my shoulder and head straight outside to go to the auxiliary building. Yet another beautiful day outside, and here I am planning to squander it… again.

The halls near the nurses' offices are definitely busier than they were the night of the festival, but the building is still pretty quiet compared to the rest of the grounds. It is probably for the best that the atmosphere here puts people at ease.

Without any better idea of where to go, I head straight for the head nurse's office and knock twice on the door. It swings open almost immediately, and I am ambushed by the overly-enthusiastic face of our purple-haired nurse.

He looks me over swiftly before I even have a chance to say hello. "Well, well- Nakai! Now _there's_ a face I haven't seen in a while."

"Er. Yeah. Hello."

"How are you feeling?" He leans against the door frame, like he knows he has me cornered here. "Do you feel like you are starting to get into the swing of things at Yamaku? I hope you aren't feeling too intimidated to stop in and see me."

I shrug. "No, not at all… I do think I am starting to get the hang of everything, thanks. I just haven't had any real issues since we last spoke."

"Is that so? Well, that's very good to hear." He raps his fingers on the wall, thinking for a moment. "Emi said you decided not to make a habit of coming down to the track in the mornings. Have you been keeping up with regular exercise?"

Figures Emi ratted me out to the nurse. It's always the ones you think are the nicest.

"Um… sort of?" I say quietly.

He seems thoroughly unimpressed, and his smile suddenly fades. "…'Sort of', or 'yes?'"

"…Sort of."

"Nakai. You told me you would get more serious about this."

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry's not going to cut it with me every time. Like it or not, this is very important. You have plenty of options available to you to get the proper amount of exercise."

I almost apologize again, but stop myself. I don't want to try to make excuses, since I know this is my own fault for not bothering to take care of myself properly.

Noticing my speechlessness, the nurse takes pity on me for a moment and diverts the subject. "You said you haven't been having any problems, right? So I'm sure there's something you came by to get my help with."

"Oh, well… I actually didn't stop by for myself… I was wondering if Naomi Inoue was around." I cringe at my own response, given that 'I'm not here for me' is probably the worst thing I could have said.

"Oh." He crosses his arms, contemplating how to respond to that. "…Well, yes, she is here, upstairs, in the office right at the end of the hall. She isn't feeling all that well, but you can check to see how she is feeling about visitors. But don't think that means you're getting off the hook with me." He straightens himself out and steps slightly into his office, uncertain. "I would really like to have the opportunity to sit down with you about this, but I suppose in-between classes is probably not the best time for that, especially when you have prior arrangements… I'll tell you what: I'll let you go today, but I want you to come in to see me tomorrow afternoon so we can come up with some kind of plan for you. Deal?"

"Okay, deal. Tomorrow, after class." Of course, there is no other way for me to get out of this.

"Alright. Thank you." With a small sigh, he leans out of his door and points down the hall to the staircase at the end. "You can speak with the nurse there about Inoue, though I don't expect her to be feeling very chatty."

"Thanks."

"Of course." He grins again, apparently just to make sure I don't leave on a sour note. "I will see you tomorrow, then. Try to take care of yourself until then."

"I will, thanks."

"Take care, Nakai."

He closes the door in my face, and I take off down the hall. Climbing the staircase, it occurs to me that this is the same office Naomi was in on the night of the festival… which means that I probably could have headed straight there and avoided getting chewed out by the nurse altogether. I kick myself for that.

The female nurse that greets me at the door is the same, as well, and she recognizes me almost immediately. "Oh, you're that boy from the newspaper club, right? Are you here to see Inoue?"

"Yes, I am; thank you. Hisao Nakai."

"Nakai. Got it. Inoue is still recovering, but I can go check on her. Just a moment, dear."

She leaves me waiting awkwardly at the door for half a minute before returning, flashing me the same unnatural smile that the head nurse uses.

"Okay, go ahead in," she says cheerfully, opening the door to allow me inside.

I step in after her, and she takes a seat at her desk, waiting for me to tread in on my own. I'm here completely of my own volition this time, and yet I feel even more awkward about it than I did last time.

When I enter the back room, Naomi is already sitting up in bed waiting for me, her legs half-under the covers. I wave uncertainly, and she flashes me a bright smile.

"Hey, Hisao. You really didn't need to come in during lunch, you know."

"Oh, uh. That's alright. I don't mind."

She leans back against her bedpost, gesturing for me to approach. I take a seat on the bed next to her, not totally sure what to say.

"Well, I appreciate you going out of your way," Naomi says with a shrug, "but Natsume was already gonna bring me the stuff from class today, so…"

"Oh, yeah, I guess that would make sense." I swing my bag onto my lap, frowning. "I… actually didn't bring you anything from class. Though that would have been a good idea, in hindsight."

Naomi half-frowns, briefly confused. "Oh, really? Then…?"

"I just, uh. I just thought it- I thought I would see how you were doing, that's all."

"Oh! Well…!" Naomi looks me over with a very intrigued expression, genuinely at a loss for a moment. "I, um… well, hey, that's a really sweet thought, but…"

God, I don't know if I could possibly be handling this any worse than I am. I wish there was some good way to explain my own irrational behavior.

I slap my hand to my forehead. "-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to assume anything, or… you just seemed kind of out of it after this morning."

"No, no, you don't need to apologize, really! Really, I mean- I'm fine. My head hurts a little bit, but I'm feeling a lot better than normal, given that it's only been… what, an hour?" She shrugs. "Bit my tongue, so I've been sucking on cotton balls every waking moment. But other than that, I'm totally fine. Thanks for looking out; that's a really nice thing to do."

"Natsume said she thought you'd be asleep."

"Yeah, I was sleeping up until maybe five minutes ago. I really feel alright though." She grins playfully, though in a fake kind of way that makes me think she's just trying to put me at ease. "Honestly, the only reason I'm still in here right now is that I can get out of afternoon classes as long as I make it through lunch."

I laugh self-consciously. "Well, I won't tell."

"You'd better believe it." She puffs her cheeks out, like she's hesitant to say something. "The head nurse is already giving me a hard time after my attack last week, 'cause I didn't take my medication. He may not even let me get away with it today."

"Damn, I know what you mean."

…Well, I instantly regret saying that.

"How so?"

"Just, the nurse. He's been on my case too."

She laughs earnestly and sits up a little more, to look me more eye-to-eye. "Ha, oh yeah? What'd _you_ do?"

"Nothing, really. He wants me to exercise more."

Naomi tilts her head slightly. "…What for?"

Knowing how curious Naomi is, I could have seen this coming from a mile away. I hate to make the conversation about me, _especially_ right now.

"I have a heart condition. So I'm supposed to be getting regular exercise."

"Oh, really? You've never mentioned that before. What kind of heart condition?"

"Arrhythmia. My, uh- I have an irregular heartbeat."

I shrug uselessly.

She glances away from me for a moment, frowning. "Uh, do you… not wanna talk about it, Hisao?"

"No, it's alright."

"Is it _actually_ alright, or are you just saying it's alright to get me to shut up about it?" She looks me in the eye again.

"I don't-" I stop myself. I feel like this conversation has suddenly spiraled out of my control, but it seems so petty and stupid to lie to Naomi about this. "I don't want you to shut up. I just am not very used to talking about it. That's all. I swear it's okay."

"Thanks for saying that." Naomi slumps down onto her pillows. "Look, I'm sorry for pestering you. You said that the health stuff didn't bother you, but obviously I know it's more complicated than that. You probably got pretty freaked out in class when I had my attack today, right?"

"I- well, it just seemed…"

"I don't blame you _at all_ , alright? I get that it's not easy to watch; I mean, God, _I_ think it's the most embarrassing thing in the world. I think it's sweet that you were worried about me. Just take my word for it that I'm okay, okay?"

"I believe you, really. I… I'm not even really sure what I'm doing here, to be honest."

"Wasting time you should be spending on lunch, I'd say."

"I'm not that hungry."

"Sure you aren't. That's what _I_ say when I'm lying to the nurse."

I cross my arms. "Well then that just makes us even, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, you think you're so clever." She stretches out comfortably, looking at the ceiling. "Tell you what, considering all you have at stake here is my goodwill anyway. Why don't you go down to the cafeteria while you still have time to kill, get enough food for both of us and then eat it here? You'll still get back to class in time to explain how I was totally passed out in bed and in no condition to be there."

"That just sounds like a convoluted way of telling me to do your dirty work."

"Are you seriously not used to that by now?"

She shoots me a friendly smirk, challenging me.

"What do you want to eat?" I sigh.

"I'm more interested in seeing what _you_ think I want."

"Then don't set your expectations too high."

"The funny thing is, Hisao," Naomi hums, "my expectations are not set at all."

Naomi dismisses me hurriedly, as I'm pushing the clock as it is. The nurse smiles cheerfully at me as I slip out of her office and down the staircase.

The cafeteria is a whole building over, and it hits me after a few moments exactly what a pointless trudge I just agreed to. As I pass by the head nurse's office on my way out, I can't help but realize how much better Naomi is at motivating me than he is.


	8. Act 2 - Inquisition

Today is my fourth consecutive day on the nurse's exercise schedule, which according to him consists of "as much brisk walking as seems productive"- or until I get too tired and frustrated to exert myself, in other words. Credit where it's due, he's definitely committed to accommodating me, but this really does feel like the absolute _least_ I could do. It makes me miss soccer a little, even if only just for the fact that I was able to do it without collapsing into a panting, tight-chested heap.

Late afternoon is the best and easiest time for me to do it- during the week, at least- which has the unfortunate side effect of leaving me busy immediately after class each day. I'm not enthusiastic about spending more time alone, but if nothing else, at least it's nice to be able to take some time to myself aside from schoolwork without feeling guilty for procrastinating.

I'm one of the first students out of the classroom at the end of the day, hoping to beat the crowd on my way to the school's gate. For the first time, I find myself actually looking forward to the new ritual- if I'm smart about it, I can stop by the store on my way back and pick up some food as part of the trip. Actually makes this regimen seem… well, pretty doable. Everything is going smoothly for once, which of course makes it is the perfect time for an absurd, theatrical interruption.

"Hisao!" cries what I can only assume is a dying animal, almost directly behind me. Somehow I am caught off-guard, and I reflexively flip around and throw up my hands in self-defense for a brief moment before relaxing into an unimpressed frown.

"Geez, Naomi, do you need to yell?" I ask irritably, half-turning and running a hand through my hair. "You scared the hell out of me."

"I wanted to catch you before you got away." Naomi flashes me an expectant look, completely unapologetic.

"You're five feet away from me. I can recognize your voice, you know."

"Doesn't mean you'll stop."

"Why wouldn't I stop?"

"Where are you going?"

"That doesn't even come close to answering my question."

"Me first. Where are you going?"

"Nowhere."

"Are you avoiding me?"

"What? No!"

"It seems like you're avoiding me. Are you trying to get out of club work? You seemed like you were in a hurry to get out of class."

"I'm not avoiding you, and I'm not trying to get out of work. I just wanted to get out here quickly."

"Did I piss you off? I can't figure out what I did."

"For God's sake, I said I'm not avoiding you. You didn't do anything, except pester me with stupid questions. Why do you even ask if you aren't going to believe me?"

"…Why did you say 'nowhere' when I asked where you're going?"

"Because it doesn't matter."

"Is that really faster than just telling me where you're going?"

"If I told you where I was going, you would just ask me a million more questions about it."

"…Yeah, maybe." She crosses her arms and leans a little to the side to look past me. "So where are you going?"

"Damn it."

"That's not an answer."

"I don't really have a destination. I'm just going for a walk."

"Why were you in a hurry if you were just taking a walk?"

"Because I wanted to be out as long as I could while the sun is still out."

"That doesn't sound very relaxing."

"It's _not_ very relaxing."

"I thought walks were supposed to be relaxing."

"I guess."

"But not yours?"

"Not really."

"Why not?"

"Because I have to."

"Why?"

"The nurse told me to."

"Oh. Makes sense." She pouts for a moment. "Can I come?"

"…It will probably be a long walk."

"I have time to kill." She raises an eyebrow impatiently.

"Fine. Just promise you won't complain when you decide it's boring."

"Man, you have such a low opinion of me."

That comment puts me off a little bit for some reason. I watch Naomi carefully as I set off down the hill through the gate.

"No, I don't," I reply after a pause.

She shoots me an incredulous look and then throws up her hands. "…Yeah, I know. I was kidding."

"You were?"

"You couldn't tell?"

"You usually seem to be serious when you say stuff like that."

"Well." She shrugs noncommittally. "You know. Context clues."

"I don't really totally get you, to be honest."

She laughs quietly and fixes her hair, uncharacteristically bashful in a way that is as disarming as it is cute. "Mhm, well, I sympathize. I've been trying to figure you out since the day I met you."

I shake my head once, just to collect myself a little. "Any progress?"

"I wish. I keep alternating between thinking you like me and thinking you find me irritating."

"I don't find you irritating. Most of the time, at least."

Naomi smiles conspicuously at that. "So you like me?"

"Sure, I do. You know, most of the time."

"Then I guess that settles that."

"Guess so."

Strange that she had to ask. Part of me thinks that she only did to get me to admit it out loud, but I'm honestly not sure. I don't see why there would have been any question about that in the first place.

Naomi trails very slightly behind me as we wordlessly make our way down the road, and she makes no attempt to conceal her lack of patience in the interim. She slides her hands onto her legs and leaves them there for a moment as though hoping to keep her hands in her pockets, and she pouts upon remembering that she's wearing a skirt.

"…Wow, this is the most boring thing ever," she eventually sighs, staring blankly at the string of houses along the road.

I shoot her a look. "Seriously? You couldn't last, what, five minutes?"

"Don't blame me. Walking is an inherently boring activity. There really is no reason to walk without any destination unless you are with your dog or your significant other. And even then, if I were to do it, it would take me some serious dedication."

"Have you ever _had_ a dog?"

"No, but I've had significant others, and believe me, they are _much_ rowdier."

"What, so you need to take them for walks more often?"

"Oh, you have no idea, Hisao. I don't have anywhere near the patience for it." She smirks, amused with herself, and shoots me a wayward glance.

"Well, I don't know whether or not I'm more patient than you, but I don't really have a choice in the matter. It was either this or running track with Emi." I shrug, taking a moment to survey our surroundings. "I dunno, though. I kind of like the peace and quiet of it."

"Hang on, running track with Emi? As in Emi Ibarazaki?"

"Yeah, that's her."

"Well, no wonder you didn't want to partner with her. She'd run circles around you!"

"You know her?"

Naomi laughs dryly, as though it's a stupid question. "Um, yes, I know her. She's, like, the star of the track team. Natsume thinks she's annoying, but she is really talkative, so I get stuck interviewing her for the newspaper virtually every time we write anything about track and field."

"She's definitely got a lot of energy."

"You can say that again. Probably the only person in the school that I can't keep up with."

"What doesn't Natsume like about her?"

"If I had to guess? The fact that she puts her hair up in twin tails. She has all these little cutesy feminine quirks that make her popular with boys. I think it makes Natsume jealous." Naomi thinks on that for a moment, then grimaces and shakes her head. "I probably shouldn't have said that."

"I didn't know Natsume was unpopular."

"Well, I don't know that she's _unpopular_ , necessarily. She just doesn't get ogled at." Naomi purses her lips, like she regrets that I got this information out of her.

"That doesn't sound like something to get jealous about."

"It just depends on what kind of person you are, I guess. You wouldn't know it from talking to her, but Natsume actually gets really nervous and shy around some of the boys in our year."

"Really? That seems so unlike her."

"Yeah, I know. That's the kind of thing you don't get to know about a person until you get really close with them. Which is why I really shouldn't be telling you this. She would disembowel me if she knew we were having this conversation."

" _You_? I'm more worried about _me_!"

"Yep. Would be a shallow grave for both of us."

She giggles at me, but glances away when I try to make eye contact. She's still trailing a little bit behind me, like she is somehow reluctant to walk directly at my side. But all that really does is draw more attention to her.

Apparently nothing can get her to take a walk save for a significant other, though she went out of her way to come along today. That sure doesn't feel like an accident to me.

Funny how I've never really gone for a proper walk with a girl before- I mean, certainly not with Iwanako, anyway. There was Mai, back in the day, I guess, but that felt a lot more… platonic, somehow. This, on the other hand, really would feel like a date, if it weren't for this nagging feeling that Naomi is here with an ulterior motive. That makes me oddly bitter, all of a sudden. But I probably owe her the benefit of the doubt…

"Speaking of ogling, though…" Naomi hums, breaking the silence after a few uncomfortable minutes. She hangs on the last word for a moment in order to watch me for a reaction.

No doubt she is not surprised by my irritation. "Oh, God, _what_ in the hell…?"

"If I can return to the subject of Emi Ibarazaki for a second."

"I'd rather you didn't-"

"-I have to say," she interrupts with a smirk, "I am surprised, and a little impressed, that you weren't willing to tough it out on the track just for the excuse to ogle at Emi in her track uniform."

"Excuse me?"

"I mean, I'm not saying I would blame you. I'm just saying I know what I would have done in your situation."

Her expression is unreasonably salacious considering the subject of our conversation. I watch her for a few moments, and something suddenly clicks for me.

"…Hang on, are you a lesbian?" I blurt out for some reason.

I know it's probably not something you should bluntly confront someone about in polite conversation, but regardless my gut is telling me I should have asked that sooner.

After a moment's pause, Naomi skids to a stop, apparently to prevent herself from collapsing with laughter. Despite going red in the face, she actually does not seem very embarrassed, and it seems like she is laughing deliberately at me, which only makes me feel more awkward. Considering the context, I still don't think it was an unreasonable question.

She makes focused eye contact with me as she stops laughing just long enough to speak again. "No, I'm not. But I'm proud of you for just up and asking me that." She snickers again when I shrug at her.

"It didn't occur to me until just now," I say quietly, starting down the sidewalk again to break some of the self-imposed tension I'm feeling.

"I was just making fun. You don't have to be a lesbian to know whether or not a girl is an objectively attractive person. Although I know guys are all too insecure to say stuff like that out loud." Naomi looks at her fingernails absentmindedly as she treads behind me, blatantly refusing to look in my direction, and laughs to herself. "More than that, though, I never would have expected you to feel so comfortable asking me something like that. You are a very blunt person, you know that?"

Naomi makes the assessment very firmly, like a judge casting a final decision. Despite her confidence, though, that doesn't sound right to me. I don't think anyone has ever described me as 'blunt' before, though I suppose it is hard to argue with considering how I've been acting around Naomi lately. Maybe she just knows me better than I do.

"I think it's just around you," I admit. "You're a bad influence, I suppose."

"Yeah, you're not the first person to tell me that." Naomi sighs, amused with herself, and takes a few moments to look me over. "…I have a confession to make, Hisao. I'm not just here to keep you company."

It's not exactly a revelation, but it does get under my skin a little, hearing it out loud. Not that I really get the feeling Naomi _dislikes_ being here with me, but she still could have let me have my delusions. Maybe she just doesn't want me to get the wrong idea.

"What are you here for, then?" I ask shortly.

"I wanted to talk to you about something business related. This seemed like the last chance I'd ever get to get you alone, considering you've been vanishing from the classroom in a puff of smoke every day this week."

"Business related? As in, club related?"

She nods solemnly, trying to keep a poker face.

"Fine," I reply. "I'm here. Go ahead."

She thinks on that for a moment, then shakes her head. "Not here. Let's go to the Shanghai."

"No."

She chuckles at that, and finds herself a little at a loss for words. "…Allow me to rephrase. We're going to the Shanghai."

"Maybe _you_ are."

I tuck my hands into my pockets, proud of myself despite Naomi's loud scoff. If she's going to try and corner me about work, she can do it on my schedule. It's especially sweet considering how much she seems to enjoy hijacking other people's time.

"Come on, Hisao. I don't want to keep having a conversation with the back of your head. Let's just talk over coffee. We've been walking forever."

I glance at my watch pitilessly. "We've been walking for ten minutes."

"It feels like forever."

"That's called being relaxed. You should try it some time."

"Nothing more relaxing than a hot drink…"

"I'm not thirsty."

"Damn it, Hisao." For the first time, Naomi marches up to stand directly at my side, nearly brushing up against my arm, and places her hands on her hips, forcing me to stand still and look at her. "I am going to go with or without you."

"Fine by me. See ya."

"Seriously? You're going to make me go by myself?" shouts Naomi suddenly, dropping her hands at her sides with genuine surprise.

"I'm not making you do anything."

Naomi seems simultaneously irritated with and impressed by me, a reaction that is oddly satisfying. After a second of thought, she says, "I know you'll feel guilty thinking about me sitting around all by my lonesome."

" _You're_ the one that wanted to talk to _me_. You're the only one that has any stake in this. I know a bluff when I see one, Naomi."

And apparently _that_ is the tipping point.

Finally out of suitable retorts, Naomi alternates her glare between me and the storefronts along the sidewalk. After a long, _long_ stretch of expectant silence, she finally snaps- and without another word, she takes a step away, turns on her heel, and marches off down the sidewalk, turning a corner to get out of my sight as quickly as possible.

I am almost certain she really was bluffing, but apparently she refuses to be one-upped. Actually, I kind of respect that.

Of course, now is the issue of what to do without her, and as much as I would truly like to finish my walk and pick up some groceries, the idea of meeting Naomi in class tomorrow morning sounds suddenly… problematic. It's hard not to think about her sitting by herself in that teahouse, stewing, though despite what Naomi said it's more anxiety than guilt I'm feeling.

Not that it makes a difference.

* * *

Fifteen minutes, and a number of wrong turns, later, I finally arrive at the entrance to the Shanghai, and it is as small and out-of-the-way as I remember.

The bell on the door rings as soon as I enter, and before I can get more than a few steps inside I am set upon by Yuuko, once again in her waitress's uniform.

"Hello! Good morning, and welcome to the Shanghai!" Smiling enthusiastically, Yuuko throws her whole upper body forward into a violent bow.

"Hi, Yuuko," I respond quietly, trying to spot Naomi without making it too apparent. "It's the middle of the afternoon, you know."

"Oh, it… I said good morning, didn't I…?"

I lift a hand to reassure her before she has the chance to freak out. "It's fine, really."

"Okay! Understood!" Yuuko shakes her head and takes a step back, toward the counter. "I'm sorry to get distracted! Can I take your order?"

"I'm good, thanks. Just… looking for someone."

At that moment I lock eyes with Naomi, who despite seeming surprised to see me collects herself and waves daintily to mock me, a cup in her free hand. I wave back limply, defeated. Damn her.

Yuuko observes this and quickly becomes visibly uncomfortable. "Oh, well, that's fine; I mean, you can have a seat if you like… I think I have orders to get to in the back, actually…"

"He'll have a coffee, Yuuko," Naomi calls out without taking her eyes off me.

Yuuko and I exchange a glance, and I nod uncertainly. She scurries off into the back room.

Without another word, I make my way to Naomi's table and slide into the booth across from her. Her grin is unbelievably smug, and it takes serious willpower just to look at her.

Naomi reaches one hand across the table and pulls out a few sugar packets at the end of the table, but rather than empty them into her own drink she holds them between two fingers and dangles them in front of my face.

I snatch them away quickly, suspicious. "What's this?"

"What does it look like? It's for your coffee."

I glance down at the packets in my hand. "Two sugars. How'd you know how many I-?"

"It's what you had last time we came here."

She raises an eyebrow at me provocatively. There is a brief pause, during which Yuuko appears to deliver my coffee, and I take the time to empty my sugars into it.

"You are something else," I say, stricken with disbelief.

"I know." Naomi leans on one hand and takes a sip of her own coffee. "I win, by the way."

"What did you want to talk about?"

"Oh, yeah. I almost forgot in all the commotion," she hums, rapping her fingers along the table in thought. "Here's the thing, Hisao. I get that you're new, and you're still learning the ropes, and all that, but… I think you can be doing more for the club. 'Cause right now, you're kinda… hapless."

"I can still quit whenever I want, you know," I add defensively, almost as a reflex. I almost immediately regret saying that, since I don't actually want to quit, but Naomi replies before I can elaborate.

"Yeah, I _do_ know. And yet, something is obviously keeping you here. So I wanna figure out what that something is."

Her grin is definitely less smug than before- instead, it's now cheerful and curious. I realize that she pays attention to everyone, but I am still stricken by how interested she seems to be in my motivations in particular.

More than that, she makes a good point. I don't exactly have the passion for the newspaper that Naomi does, and now that I've been reduced to technical work that I am only just competent enough to do, it seems like it probably isn't the place for me. If anything, Naomi herself is the only thing that has really been keeping me around.

I almost say that out loud, but hesitate for some reason.

"In time, I guess," I respond after a silence.

"Sure. In time…"

Naomi reaches across the table and grabs my empty sugar packets, adding them to a pile of her own next to her cup. For an absentminded tic, it is certainly attention-grabbing. I find that kind of endearing, but I don't think she can even tell I'm paying attention to it.

"You like takeout?" Naomi asks, interrupting my thoughts.

"Sure."

"Here's what I want from you. Come to the computer lab with Natsume and me tomorrow after class, while we work on the next issue of the paper. You don't really need to be there as an editor, but I want you to see the _process_ , you know? Plus, free food."

"You really had to pull me aside just to ask me this?"

"No. But I wanted to. And you let me get away with it." She takes a sip of her coffee and looks away from me. I snicker to myself, though I know that only makes her more proud of herself.

"Fine. I'll be there tomorrow."

"Good to hear."

Naomi drags her finger along one of the packets on the table. Her grin is plastered to her face, even more broadly than before. In the sunlight coming through the window, which is starting to dim as it gets later in the afternoon, the look is very flattering on her. I haven't thought about it much, but she is remarkably pretty, in a traditional sense. I wonder what she looks like when she's not quite so made up.

"What are you so happy about?" I ask accusingly.

"Nothing…" she replies comfortably, leaning on the back of the booth behind her. "…I just knew you would say that."


	9. Act 2 - Two Kids Alone in a Tiny Room

**Author's Note:** Thanks to anyone who's been sticking with this fic so far, and apologies for long breaks between chapters. Next chapter will come faster... probably.

Cheers, all, and thanks for reading!

* * *

There's a quiet, electronic hum in the computer lab that can make any silence awkward.

Natsume is unexpectedly late for lunch, leaving me and Naomi here by ourselves without much to talk about. Given that Naomi is preoccupied with her lunch- slurping noodles directly out of a plastic container with no concern for manners- the only thing I have to pay attention to is the hum of the computers in the background. I'm overthinking it, but it feels unnatural anyway.

I drum my hands absentmindedly on the table, and Naomi's eyes dart up to look at me, though she doesn't lower the container from her lips.

"Are you gonna eat, or are you gonna stare at me?" she asks with a suspicious glare.

I blink once. "I'll eat."

"Is there something wrong with the food?"

"No."

"You said it was alright with you."

"It is."

"Y'know, that's something that's always bugged me. People who say they are alright with something, but then when the time comes, they're not alright with it anymore." She sets down the plastic on the table for the first time and jabs her chopsticks in my direction. "I mean, if you're gonna lie, you need to _commit_ to it, y'know? It's not fair otherwise."

"I wasn't lying."

"Then why weren't you eating?"

"I was thinking."

"What were you thinking about?"

"Nothing."

"Were you in a coma?"

"No."

"Then you weren't thinking about nothing, were you?"

She seems so proud of herself for her wit, and I can't help snickering about it to myself. I feel like we go through this every time she starts a conversation with me. I wonder how she would react if I told her she was getting predictable.

"Naomi," I say after a pause.

"What?"

"Do you really care?" I raise a hand to stop her from cutting me off. "I mean, specifically with this question. Do you genuinely, seriously care about what I was thinking about during this one specific silence, even though I was obviously having a pointless, absentminded train of thought that wouldn't mean anything to anyone?"

She thinks for a moment, inordinately serious. "Yes. I genuinely do."

"Fine." I half-turn in my chair and point at the row of computers behind us. "…I was thinking about the hum, from the computers."

"…The hum," she repeats curiously.

"Yes. They leave the computers on, and there's a hum. I think it accentuates the silence in the room."

"That doesn't make sense. How could the computers making noise possibly accentuate the silence?"

"I mean the silence between us. The fact that we're just sitting here and not saying anything."

"Well, I was eating." She pokes plastic container in front of her.

"I know. I'm just saying, we don't spend a lot of time not talking to each other."

"Hm." Pondering that, Naomi takes the opportunity to study me, eventually softening into a light smile. "…You, know, it's probably for the best that Natsume isn't here, because I wanted to get the chance to-"

 _Koom_.

The door to the computer lab slams open, and Natsume marches in with a notebook tucked under her arm. Without saying a word of greeting to anyone, she marches immediately up to the empty seat next to me, slaps the book on the table and plants herself in the chair.

"Someone is stealing books," Natsume says firmly, reaching an arm across the table to grab a takeout box.

Naomi, obviously frustrated by the interruption, leans into the table, shooting Natsume a harsh look. "What? What are you talking about?"

Natsume takes a relaxed pause to swallow her food. "Someone is stealing library books."

"Wha- who? Why?"

"I don't know who, or why. But I was just there talking to Yuuko about it. Apparently she finds it pretty distressing." Natsume turns her head sharply to the side suddenly, flashing me a smile. "Hello, Hisao. What are you doing here?"

"Naomi asked me to come," I reply with a shrug.

"Did she? Huh."

"-What is the deal with the library books, Natsume?" Naomi interjects quickly, grabbing Natsume's notebook off the table and cracking it open.

"What do you mean, 'what is the deal' with it? It's a good story! Don't tell me you don't agree."

Naomi flips the notebook open and skims through it briefly. "It's not that I don't agree, it's that you didn't give us much information to go on."

"I don't _have_ much information to go on. I was hoping you might want to help me out on this, given the gigantic spider web of 'connections' you're always bragging about having."

"I don't know any thieves, and I don't like what you're implying."

Naomi returns to her food with a huff, and Natsume swipes the notebook back from her. "Well, fine, if you want to be defensive about it. I can just put Hiro on the job instead."

"What makes you think _Hiro_ would know who to talk to about this?"

"Nothing. But unlike you, Hiro does what I tell him to. So at least he would try."

"Is this the only thing you've got to write about right now?"

"At the moment."

"So you convened a meeting with me so we could discuss _one_ story with _no_ leads."

"Well, if you want to get technical, I convened a meeting with you so that I could cash in on you owing me lunch." Natsume picks delicately at the bottom of a takeout box with her chopsticks, then sets it down and turns to Naomi. "But as I said, I had hoped I could count on you to help me with this. It isn't my fault you aren't as resourceful as you say you are."

Natsume shrugs innocently, moving onto another box of food with a smug grin. Naomi shoots daggers at her from her spot across the table, but it has no effect at all. I've gotten to know these two quite well by now, but I still can't tell who wears the pants in this relationship.

A few minutes of noisy eating pass. Naomi seems satisfied to see me touch the food, which is good because I do it mostly for her benefit anyway, not having much of an appetite.

"It's not that I can't help," Naomi mutters eventually, unwilling to let Natsume have the last word. "It's just that it's stupid to go in firing blind. What we really need is a good place to start. And I was thinking, Hiro, dedicated as he is… probably isn't the best place to start." I am taken completely off-guard as Naomi suddenly shoots a glare at me, smiling coyly. "If only we had someone who spent more time in the library, you know…?"

Natsume, intrigued by this, shifts in her chair to look at me and tilts her head slightly "…You have been awfully quiet, Hisao."

I sigh by instinct, prompting a giggle from Naomi, and throw up my hands. "Looks to me like you guys have this handled."

"Then you should get your eyes checked," Natsume quips. "You spend a lot of time in the library?"

"Not as much as I'd like, lately."

"More than any of the rest of us," interrupts Naomi.

I shrug at the table. "I'll look into it, I guess."

"Damn right you will. See, Hisao, I knew having you here would pay off. We'll make a journalist out of you yet."

Natsume smirks, glancing subtly between us. "What were you two talking about before I came in?"

"Nothing," replies Naomi with a grin. "We were sitting here in silence. Listening to the hum of the computers."

"Sounds awkward."

"Well, you know. We had nothing else to do."

They exchange a glance and, feeling alienated as ever, I return to eating, trying to draw as little attention to myself as possible.

Natsume finishes eating before too long. Unable to clean out another box, she instead gently folds it closed and pushes it to the center of the table, looking up at Naomi again. "In all seriousness, thank you for buying, Naomi. But you always buy too much food."

"I had a plus-one today," Naomi responds with a shrug. "If you want, you can take the leftovers with you. I bet Hiro would be happy to have them."

"I may take you up on that. I don't know if he's eaten yet, though."

"Are you going to see Hiro?" I ask suddenly, surprised to see Natsume packing up already.

"If I can find him." Natsume scratches her chin for a moment in thought. "I may bring him back here. You never know, maybe he'll have something else to add."

"Don't expect us to wait up for you," says Naomi.

"I never do. Just try not to come up with any startling revelations while I'm gone."

"Don't tempt me, Natsume. I may just have the whole article finished by the time you get back."

"Wouldn't be the first time," she replies flippantly. "Okay, I'll see you both later. It was good to see you, Hisao. Goodbye for now."

Natsume gives me a small wave and then slips through the door. It seems like she's in a hurry for some reason… strange, given that I don't exactly see Hiro as the type to get snippy or impatient with anyone.

With Natsume gone, Naomi clears out some of the space on the table in front of her to give herself room to fidget with her hands. I finish eating before too long, and Naomi and I are left once again sitting in awkward silence.

"Sorry for volunteering you," Naomi says, strangely quiet.

"That's alright. Makes sense, I guess."

"I really do think you will be a big help to us."

"I believe you."

"I'm really not irritating you?"

She pouts a little, like I hurt her feelings or something. To be frank, I'm starting to get fed up with having to explain myself to her. An unfortunate self-fulfilling prophecy, as it were.

"No. Why would you ask me that?"

She thinks for a little while, staring off to the side. "I don't know. I'm just thinking out loud."

"I'm not upset with you. I thought I made it clear yesterday. You don't need to keep asking me."

"Yeah. I know. I guess I just feel like I must be misunderstanding something."

"What? Misunderstanding what? I don't know what you're talking about."

Leaning in on her hands, Naomi takes a long sigh and stares intently at me. "Hisao."

"What?"

"Hm." She thinks for a moment, frowning slightly. "Are you… homesick, or something?"

"Huh? No."

"You don't have to, like, act tough around me, you know. I get homesick sometimes and I've been going to Yamaku for a long time now. You're brand new."

She smiles earnestly out of sympathy, but all it really does is make me feel sad on her behalf. The truth is, I haven't really missed home at all since I got here. If anything, I've been feeling guilty about how little I've thought about it. I've barely even talked to my parents over the past few weeks.

"No, I honestly haven't been homesick at all," I say flatly. "Why do you ask?"

"I ask because- well, hm. I don't know. I'm just throwing out ideas at this point." She purses her lips, pausing again. "Do I, like… remind you of your sister, or something?"

"I don't have a sister."

"Mhm. Okay. That's good to hear, I guess. I just- well, I don't know." She nods affirmatively and puts a hand to her chin, still taking long pauses in-between thoughts just to build up a sense of suspense. "…You know what? Fine. You win. What do you want me to do, hide a note in your textbook? Like we're in grade school? 'Cause at this point, I'll do it, Hisao. I really will. This is what you are reducing me to."

Her tone jumps from sympathetic to accusatory in a split-second, and it's so jarring that I barely even have time to register what she is talking about at first.

"I- what?" I respond uselessly.

"Hisao. Okay. Hisao. You are a grown man. Please use your brain for a second." She clenches her fist and releases it, like she is forcing herself to continue. "I really like you, and I think you're _super_ cute, and I am almost _positive_ you feel the same way about me, and I have been waiting and waiting and _waiting_ for you to say something about it, but you have just missed so many opportunities now that I am genuinely starting to think you are never going to do it. And as much as I've tried, I cannot figure out why. So that's it. Here I am, doing your job. Saying something about it. And… I don't know. I can't believe it. Can you believe it? I can't."

She smacks her lips and watches me with a great deal of suspense, clearly forcing herself to make eye contact with me despite the embarrassment that is written plainly all over her face. The fact that she actually feels so embarrassed confessing this up to me feels like a little victory all its own, although I am sure it is written all over my face that I am just as embarrassed as she is.

As an aside, she is kind of adorable when she's blushing, but to be fair that may just be the heat of the moment talking.

"Naomi, I… I have no idea what to say," I respond, completely truthful.

"…Well, am I wrong?" She stares at my stupefied face with great suspense, and after a couple of seconds of tension, buries her face in her hands with a loud groan. "Oh, God. Oh my God. I am really sorry. This is the most embarrassing- please don't hold this over my head. Because I may never be willing to show my face-"

"-Naomi, please," I interrupt forcefully, "would you slow down? You're… not wrong, okay? At all."

"Oh?" she chirps, peering at me from over the shield she formed with her hands. "Not at all?"

"No. No, not at _all_. Seriously." I just blurted it out before, but it feels good to say out loud. Naomi is cute, sure, but I don't know if I ever would have mentioned it if she hadn't said anything. I'm relieved that she did- in one fell swoop she's completely shattered whatever tension I was feeling before. And I didn't even realize I was feeling it.

Back to her confident self within a fraction of a second, Naomi slaps her hands down flat on the table and looks up at me, beaming ear-to-ear with an absolutely flattering amount of excitement. "Well…! Alright! Score one for Inoue!"

My pride swells at her smile, and suddenly the pressure is on not to embarrass myself.

I pat the table uncertainly and look her in the eye, wondering whether or not I'm still blushing. "So… is that it? What do we do now?"

"That's a good question," she hums. "But I can't say I haven't thought about it."

"Oh. That's, um. That's nice."

"Have you been into the city yet?"

"Not yet. I haven't had a chance."

"Fun! Okay, here's something." She claps her hands together exuberantly. "Natsume and I were going to go hang out and do girl stuff in the city tomorrow. So that's my schedule. But if you aren't busy, how about I just ditch her and take you instead? We can make, like, an afternoon out of it. And then you can buy me dinner."

"So, like a date."

"Man, nothing gets by you, huh?"

I hesitate, glancing briefly at the table to take note of the numerous empty takeout boxes- at least one of which I know Naomi cleared out entirely on her own. "…Do I actually have to _pay_ for your dinner?"

Naomi examines her fingernails rather than look directly at me, speaking offhandedly. "Well, only if you wanna get to second base."

…Damn.

I cannot think of any way I can possibly respond to that, which apparently amuses Naomi to no end.

After taking a few seconds to enjoy my dumbfounded silence, she takes a loud sigh and looks me in the eye again. "I don't think either of us is going to be able to focus on library books now, after that. Do you?"

"…No, I don't think so."

"Then…"

She stands suddenly and walks around the table with an odd expression, leaning against it with one hand once she gets close to me. We exchange an awkward glance.

"Then…" I repeat.

She takes a breath, stands up straight and steps past me, seeming almost disappointed. "I think maybe we should just call it a day for now."

"What about Natsume? She said she was gonna bring Hiro back here."

"She is. But there's nothing they need us to be around for…" Naomi waves her hand dismissively, but bites her lip when she turns and looks at the mess we made during lunch, all still spread over the conference table. "Well, besides… eh… okay. I should clean up. I'll call it a favor."

"You sure? I'm happy to stick around if you want some help-"

"-Nope! Not your job! But sweet of you to offer!" She clasps her hands together and flashes me a cute smile. "Can I call you tomorrow?"

"Uh, do you even have my-"

"Natsume already gave me your phone number."

"Oh. Alright."

"So…"

"So, yeah, of course. Call me. Any time you want. Of course."

I cup my hands together uncertainly, struggling to understand what Naomi could possibly see in me.

"Okay. See ya, Hisao."

"See ya."

I hesitate for a moment, feeling like I should say something else, but nothing comes to me. So I turn and walk out the door.

And, after a moment standing still outside the door to collect myself, I set off down the hall, pumping my fist like a moron. And it occurs to me again exactly how little I've missed home lately.


	10. Act 2 - Play Date

**Author's Note:** Oh, man… it's July already, isn't it? And I said I would update faster this time in my last chapter, didn't I…? Yeah? Well, shit.

I'd love to give a good explanation for the long break, but I haven't really got one, so instead I'll just say I don't know why I shot myself in the foot saying I'd be faster to update. Ah well. Not gonna make that mistake again this time, but I will say that for the future I am not planning to have a 2+ month break in between every chapter.

Thanks again for reading all!

* * *

I've gotten into a staring contest with myself in the mirror. Should I do something with my hair? Put product in it or something? That would probably look unnatural.

It feels stupid to be nervous about a date, especially with someone as easygoing as Naomi, but what can I say? She's hard to read. I don't know what she is expecting from me, or, for that matter, what I'm expecting from her.

I splash water on my face. It doesn't help me wake up or get ahold of myself like it does in the movies, but it does get my collar wet, which is uncomfortable.

I hear the bathroom door open, and I actively avoid turning around, as though if I stay still Kenji won't know I'm here.

His face appears in the mirror next to mine, and he straightens his glasses, looking directly at my reflection. "What are you doing in my bathroom?"

"Kenji, this is my bathroom, too," I reply with a sigh.

He freezes for a moment. "Of course. That was a test."

"Right."

"You look nice. Or, at least, I think you look nice." Kenji glances over his shoulder self-consciously. "I don't know. Do you look nice?"

"Uh." I look down and straighten my polo shirt, which I've decided is the right middle ground between casual and sharp dress. "I hope so."

"You're not wearing your uniform. Why not?" Kenji demands.

"Because it's Sunday. I'm going on a d- uh, a trip. Into the city."

"Hm. Suit yourself." Kenji makes a dramatic shrug, turning away from the mirror to pace around the floor of the bathroom. "I don't usually go into the city, myself. I don't want to get too far away from my room for too long. That leaves an opening for spies and thieves."

"Makes sense."

"It does, it does. I can keep watch for you while you're gone, if you want. From my own dorm, of course."

He seems so sincere about it… it's almost noble, in a weird Kenji kind of way.

I turn to face him, leaning back against the sink. "…Thanks."

"No problem, dude."

Making a finger gun with one hand, he turns and walks coolly toward the exit of the bathroom, like his mission is complete.

"Uh, Kenji, did you just come in here to say hi, or did you want to use the bathroom?" I ask quietly.

He whips his head around. "Well, not while you're in here. Duh."

I shoot him a look, but it's lost on him, so I just shake my head instead. Before he gets too far, I shoot ahead of him to cut him off at the door. "It's fine. I'm finished."

"Ah. Gotcha."

He pats me on the shoulder before I shut the door behind me, a little disoriented.

I set aside a couple of minutes to swallow my pills before returning to my mirror to overanalyze myself a little more. Maybe a polo is too stuffy? No matter what I show up in, Naomi will probably read way too much into it.

My cell phone rattles against one of the pill cases on my bedside table, pulling me abruptly out of my vain little fashion show. I already know who it is before looking at my phone, but I still wince when I hear Naomi's voice.

"What the hell's taking you so long?"

I pull the phone away from my ear instinctively, and give myself a moment before returning it. "Yeah, hello to you, too."

"Oh, yeah, hi." She takes a brief pause, I assume just to be polite, before speaking again. "Uhh, so what the hell's taking you so long?"

"I'm just getting ready. Give me a minute."

"Where's your room? I'm coming up."

Tucking my phone under my ear, I dab a towel against my collar to help it dry. I probably wouldn't have time to change even if I wanted to, at this point.

"Don't come up. Just give me a minute. I'm finishing up."

"What, are you ironing your clothes? You know I have to put on makeup, right? How am I ready before you?"

I swing open the door to my room and take off down the hall, taking my phone in my hand again. "I wish I knew, Naomi. I really do."

"Well, hurry up. If we miss the bus, it's your head."

Quiet giggling, obscured by phone static, reverberates from her end, but I'm not sure if she intended for me to hear it or not.

"Understood."

I raise a hand in greeting to one of the guys standing around in the hallway, and it occurs to me that I don't know his name. I wonder if he knows mine.

Naomi huffs loudly. "It's not polite to keep a lady waiting. You're going to make a bad first impression."

"I am pretty sure we are way past the point of first impressions by now."

I step through the entrance to the male dorms, and I am immediately greeted by a beautiful sunny day. Part of me thinks it will be too hot to go walking around in the city all afternoon in the blazing sun, but that's probably too pessimistic of me.

"Yeah, you know, with anyone else I would be inclined to agree with you," says Naomi- and it occurs to me after half a second that her voice came from behind me that time, much more loudly than it echoed through my phone's speaker. I flip around to find her leaning against the wall next to the door, and she greets me with the tiniest wave of her fingers.

It's the first time I've actually seen Naomi in everyday clothes, and it makes me resent our school uniforms for a moment. She's got on a t-shirt the same shade of pink as Misha's hair with a white logo plastered over the front, and- a bit more distractingly- very tight blue jeans. It looks like she dressed to look cute rather than stay cool in the sun, which I guess in hindsight is kind of what I did, too. Even still, if I were her, I probably would have worn a skirt.

Taking a step off of the wall to approach me, she snaps her phone shut with one hand, looking me over with a self-amused grin. "Wow, polo shirt, huh? I didn't know we were pulling out all the stops on the first date. I didn't even wear my good lingerie."

Aw, man; I knew I should have changed clothes.

…Hang on, what?

"…That was a joke," she follows up after an awkward pause, apparently reading my reaction from my face. "You can relax, Hisao."

"Right… sorry."

"Hey, if I'm coming on too strong, or making you uncomfortable, or whatever, _please_ tell me. I'm not a very good judge of that kind of thing. And if you haven't figured it out by now, I don't have much of a filter." She smirks with self-amusement, throwing her head back.

"You don't need to watch what you say around me."

I say that almost automatically, just as a courtesy, but it makes me feel strange anyway. I mean, it seems like a nice thing to say, but is it really true? It feels like I've been talking to Naomi practically all the time lately, and yet I have to admit that even still, I sometimes have no idea to respond to her. Do I expect her to filter herself around me? I don't want to be that kind of person.

I can't help but think of Rin for a moment. I wonder if, in some alternate universe, she and I could have gotten along better.

…Yeah, no, probably not.

"Thanks for saying that," Naomi chirps, "but I'm still gonna try to avoid making any more jokes about my lingerie. At least for today."

She laughs out loud at my obvious relief, though I'm still conflicted about it. Part of me wants to tell her I would be happy to talk about her lingerie, but I think that might send the wrong message.

She tugs on my arm before I make up my mind, and we take off at a brisk pace toward the school's gate. "C'mon; I told you it would be your head if we miss the bus," she says playfully.

"You know exactly where we're going?"

"Course. Natsume and I do this all the time."

"And how often do you miss the bus?"

"About as often as Natsume keeps me waiting."

With that, she releases my arm, forcing me to scurry along behind her.

Thankfully, the bus stop is only a short distance from the front gate, and so it doesn't take us long to get in full view of the bus already parked there, about to depart.

Naomi nearly leaps into the air upon noticing this, and immediately takes off running, waving her hands around in the air like she's on fire. "Oh, shit! Wait! _Wait!_ "

I take off after her as best I can, and just manage to squeeze in behind her before the door shuts behind me. The bus driver seems to visibly recoil upon seeing Naomi, though she seems pretty excited to see him in return.

"Mr. Hatanaka! Thank God it's you!" Naomi proclaims cheerfully, clasping her hands to her chest. "I should have known you would come through for me."

"And I should have known it would be you that I had to wait for." With a gruff frown, he takes the bus fare that Naomi offers him. He looks past her, straight at me, and says, "You brought a boy today. I sure hope he knows what he's getting into."

"He sure doesn't. So don't mess this up for me."

He laughs out loud and waves us toward the back of the bus. "Alright, alright. I don't have time to talk. Siddown."

"Thanks so much!"

Naomi gives a small bow and shuffles off toward the seats in the back, which are barren even compared to the rest of the sparsely-populated bus. None of the other passengers seem even slightly amused by her, but that doesn't seem to bother her in the slightest. I admire that sort of shamelessness, even while I am a little embarrassed myself.

I slump down in the seat next to Naomi in the back of the bus, shooting her a glance. "Why am I not surprised that you know the bus driver?"

She nods and points toward the front. "Mr. Hatanaka? He drives this bus route a lot, so plenty of students know him at least in passing. I wrote an article about him in the paper last year. He's actually a really nice guy. His wife works at the hospital near Yamaku."

My first thought is that it seems odd that a doctor would be married to a bus driver, but I feel guilty for thinking it. After all, maybe Mr. Hatanaka really is just a nice guy, and they're married purely out of love. That's kind of sweet, even though I know that I just made that story up and don't have any idea whether it's true or not.

I'm quiet for a while as I let my mind wander, eventually resting my head against the back of the seat as the road rolls past. I spent a lot of time wandering around the city as a kid, but the thought of doing it today just makes me forlorn.

Eventually Naomi says something to me, but I tune it out entirely. It isn't until she says something else a minute later that I realize that would probably be rude and turn my head to pay attention to her again.

"Hey. Spaceman. I'm talking to you," she says loudly.

"Sorry, I got distracted."

She puffs her cheeks out at me, and I can tell she is holding back the urge to ask me what I'm thinking about. Then, after a second, she changes the subject. "You slept late today, didn't you?"

I was kind of hoping she wouldn't call me out on that, but I know she doesn't like to be kept waiting so I probably shouldn't have expected to get off the hook.

"Yeah. A little," I admit.

She nods a few times before continuing, though to my surprise she seems totally unbothered. "So does that mean you haven't had any lunch?"

"No. Not yet."

"Cool. Neither have I." She hums quietly, tucking her hands behind her head. "There's a really great ice cream place, right next to the bus stop."

"Ice cream?" I laugh. "I thought you were talking about getting something to eat for lunch."

"I am."

She raises an eyebrow at me, intrigued to see my response. Of course, she already knows what I'm going to say, so I suppose she's more just wondering if I'm actually going to bother scolding her.

I am.

"…You can't have ice cream for lunch."

Predictably, she laughs out loud at that, shooting her nose toward the ceiling. "Like hell I can't! It's my money; I'll spend it however I want! I'm not gonna be pretty and thin forever, you know."

"Not if you eat ice cream for lunch, you're not."

"Whatever, Grandpa." She looks at her fingernails, clearly not impressed. "I'm pretty sure you can get a sandwich there instead, if that's more your speed."

"Hey, don't let me tell you what to do. You can act like a kid all you want; just don't let me be seen with you while you're doing it."

She snorts loudly, and then lowers her head out of embarrassment and covers her mouth. She sure does make it rewarding to get a laugh out of her.

Noticing me smiling at her, she tilts her head up, biting her lip like she's been restraining herself from saying something. I shrug with open palms to get her to continue, which she does without much resistance.

Folding her hands on her lap to look serious, she asks, "So, this is a _real_ date, right?"

I'm a little stricken for a second. "Uh, as opposed to what?"

"As opposed to, you didn't want to embarrass me yesterday and now you're regretting not saying so, because you're in over your head."

Oh, man. I'd be impressed with myself if I managed to ruin the afternoon before I even got off the bus.

She watches me, more with curiosity than anticipation, and after a moment of thought I shake my head furiously to write the notion off.

"No. That's not it at all," I say frankly.

She doesn't even slow down. "Because I would totally get it, if that were the case. I know I didn't really give you an easy out yesterday, so-"

"Naomi, I thought you said you were nearly positive I felt the same way you did. What's with the tone shift?"

She narrows her eyes at me with suspicion, then turns away and rests her head on her fist, like _The Thinker_. I wonder if she is doing that on purpose.

"Okay. Prove it." Naomi sits up again so that she can cross her arms at me.

"What? What does that mean?"

"It means that it was my idea to do this, and I'm putting in all the legwork here. And I'm not used to that. So, if you really want to be here with me, I want you to prove it." Naomi brushes her hair to the side with a smirk. "Pay me a compliment. Say something people say on a date."

The bus rumbles a little, going over a bump or something. Naomi doesn't take her eyes off me for a second, keeping her head tilted a little to the side. I just know that she is already planning how to twist whatever I tell her into something bad, just to play with me. Now definitely does not feel like the time for mixed messages…

…Well, you only live once.

Feigning more confidence than I actually have, I slide a little out of my chair, place my hand against the side of her head, and kiss her. She is clearly stunned.

It takes her a second to react, but the moment our lips meet, she grabs me by the collar with a muffled hum and pulls me roughly toward her, so that I am forced to grab onto the back of my seat with my free hand just to avoid falling out of it.

When she decides we are done, she flattens her hand against my chest and pushes me half an inch away from her. She keeps her hand resting against my chest though, and when I return to my own seat it simply slumps down onto her lap like she forgot it was there.

That whole gesture, which was quite a bit more intense than I was anticipating, obviously drew stares, and I can see Mr. Hatanaka chuckling to himself, having seen us through the rear view mirror. Thankfully, my heart is already pounding, and I can barely summon up the energy to be embarrassed.

I turn back to Naomi, whose face is now frozen into a look of bewilderment. She creaks her head to the side to look me in the eye, and I laugh breathily.

Obviously roused, she pushes a bit of hair out of her face, smacking her lips as she attempts to find the right words. "…Well, shit, Hisao, you got me. I did _not_ see that coming."

"I, uh." I slump back into my seat, but she doesn't take her eyes off me for a second. "I just kinda went for it," I say after a moment.

"Yeah. Yeah, you sure did. Damn." She touches the tips of her fingers to her lips, eyes still wide. "That. That was really hot."

"That's kinda what I was going for."

"You." She shakes her head and laughs again, looking at the floor. "You are a piece of work, Hisao."

With nothing left to say, she places her hands behind her head and nestles herself into her seat, eyes closed. She stays like this for some time. Not to overstate it, but she seems genuinely blown away, and I'd be lying if I said that didn't make me a little prideful.

The bus bumbles along at a slow pace, making periodic stops and filling in the seats next to us with disgruntled-looking townsfolk. Naomi drums up a bit of chit-chat but never comes up with anything serious or consequential to say, though I'm not sure if that's because of what I did or just because we've lost the privacy of the seats in the back.

When the bus finally hits our stop, Naomi is the last one to get up, following the procession up to the front of the bus so she can thank Mr. Hatanaka again. I raise my hand awkwardly to acknowledge him before scurrying after her out into the city. She immediately takes off walking, but I pause in the middle of one of the walkways raised above the street. It's a neat, modern thing that I never had back home.

The city feels huge from the inside, in a way that really does make me feel a bit nostalgic. I'd like to take some time to look around, but Naomi beats me to it, jabbing me in the arm before I have any time to get lost in thought.

"Cool, huh?" she asks, apparently reading my expression. "I'm a city kind of person, myself. Way more interesting than the sleepy little town around Yamaku. A little loud for you?"

"No. Not at all." I walk up to the railing to stand just over it, watching the cars below. "I grew up in the city. Well, not _this_ city, but… you know. It's familiar."

"No shit? Hisao's a city slicker? You are just full of surprises today."

Naomi hovers next to me for a little while, drumming her hands against the railing. After a second she realizes it is too hot to keep her hands against, and crosses her arms instead, raising one hand to cover her eyes from the sun.

It's no surprise that she likes it in the city. Lots of people to talk to, and nothing ever slows down enough to get boring. She even _looks_ like she fits right in.

"So where'd _you_ grow up?" I ask, having already turned to look at her.

She sighs quietly to herself. "Absolute middle of nowhere. Mind-numbing suburb. Don't get me started." After taking a moment, she shakes her head at me and then turns, taking off down the walkway. "Come on. I'm hungry. Creamery's right around the corner."

She marches off down the street, like an explorer traversing uncharted territory. At least that means we probably aren't going to get lost.

"What's on the itinerary today?" I ask, following closely behind her.

"Whatever the hell we want. That's my itinerary." Throwing up her hands, Naomi shoots me a glance over her shoulder and smiles broadly. "I'd be happy to show you around, if you want. But I guarantee you we will be spending some time in the shopping district before the end of the day. I was thinking I might get a new hat."

"What happened to the old one?"

"Nothing! Is there a reason I shouldn't have two hats?"

"Uh, I guess not."

"My friend, _that_ is why I brought you instead of Natsume."

"I thought you said you do this with Natsume all the time."

"I do!" She skids to a stop at the corner and flips around, clasping her hands together. "And when she's around, she always makes me restrain myself."

"I'm surprised you'd let her boss you around like that," I reply with a raised eyebrow.

"Boss me around? No, no… more like… she makes me feel guilty for spending money all frivolously. She likes to be the voice of reason." She gestures to me in demonstration. "So, y'know, naturally I couldn't wait to ditch her."

"So you're just using me to indulge your bad habits."

"I would never. Now, c'mon; I want some ice cream."

As soon as we turn the corner, we're greeted by the entrance to a small, old-school ice cream parlor, just as Naomi had mentioned. She leads me in without a second thought.

The whole place is painted white and is air conditioned to the point of being nearly freezing, like they want the whole building to feel like the inside of a tub of ice cream. The menu is small, since all the ice cream flavors are listed behind the glass of the front counter. Clearly, the emphasis here is on desserts, though the chalkboard with the menu on it does list a few different sandwiches. I don't see a grill anywhere, though, so presumably all of the real food is just pre-packaged.

Despite there being two dozen flavors to choose from, Naomi does not even look at any of the ice cream behind the glass, instead marching up to the front counter and calling out to get the attention of the man working there.

She grins like a little kid, leaning both elbows on the top of the counter while she orders. "Two strawberry cones, please. Two scoops each."

I cut in almost automatically. "Naomi, please, you don't need to order anything for me."

"Huh?" She looks over her shoulder at me with a hilarious, broad smile, then turns back to the counter. "I'm not. Get your own." The guy behind the counter laughs out loud and Naomi giggles at him, slapping her hand down on the counter and walking to the end to pay for her ice cream.

A cone in each hand, Naomi walks up to me, raising an eyebrow with anticipation. "Alright, go ahead and order your lunch. Warm milk and a laxative for Grandpa, right?"

I watch her carefully for a moment, then lean into the counter and look the attendant straight in the eye. "Vanilla."

* * *

"Ugh! I wish we'd found this place earlier!" With both hands holding her sun hat steady, Naomi spins slowly to position it properly, almost knocking over the few shopping bags at her feet.

I look past her, out the window of the shop we're standing in. The sun is still out, but starting to wane. I ran out of the stamina to go store-to-store some time ago, but there's something entertaining about watching Naomi pick things out for herself. She just gets so… excited. Like it's Christmas morning every time she finds something she can spend money on.

Aside from that, it's been forever since I had the chance to take a whole day just to unwind and enjoy myself. Catching up on schoolwork has been kind of rough, considering the time I've had to put in to help with the newspaper. Hell, even the day of the festival had me running errands for Natsume.

"What do you think, Hisao?" Naomi asks expectantly, placing a hand on her hip and tipping her sun hat.

I look her over. "Looks good. And practical."

"Seriously? You think so? 'Cause I feel like I'm wearing a sombrero."

"Yeah, seriously. It's… cute. It's a good look for you."

We exchange a brief glance, which is apparently enough to satisfy her that I'm telling the truth. Reaching into the back pocket of her jeans, she walks to the counter at the front of the store to pay for the hat. She only takes it off briefly to let the cashier scan the tag on it before putting it right back on again, emboldened by my compliment.

I pick up her shopping bags and walk toward the entrance of the store to meet Naomi there, but she takes them from me as soon as I get close. "I've got them, thanks."

I tuck my hands into my pockets. I haven't bought anything during the trip so far, aside from a couple of drinks for the two of us. It's not that I didn't have the opportunity- more just that I didn't feel the need. I guess an impromptu shopping trip just feels a little too impulsive.

We step through the door, and Naomi leans back against the wall to the side of it, looking me over suspiciously.

"Do you like shopping?" She asks, lowering her head to shade her face with the brim of her hat, which suddenly makes it feel like an important question.

I almost say 'sure', but something stops me, and I shrug instead. "…No, not really. Kinda boring."

Naomi thinks on that for a few moments before grinning and walking away from the wall, bags swinging at her hips. "My dad says that if I ever find a guy who says he likes shopping, I'll know he's a keeper, because that means he's willing to tell little white lies to make me feel better."

I can't see her face, so I have no idea how to gauge what she meant by that. Not that it matters, because my reply is automatic. "Oh. Sorry."

"Don't be. I hate white lies." She stops in place and glances at me over her shoulder. "Tell me this afternoon hasn't been a _complete_ bore. I mean… good company?"

"Good company. I promise I'm not bored," I respond truthfully.

Naomi nods contentedly and slacks her arms, letting her shoulders slump from the weight of her shopping bags. I can't believe she hasn't gotten tired of carrying those by herself yet. Without giving her the opportunity to protest, I walk up next to her and take one of her bags.

Evidently it is full of cinder blocks. I already know I'm going to regret this. Damn, does Naomi work out or something?

"Wow, what a gentleman," Naomi snickers, throwing up her hand when I snatch the bag out of it.

"I'm doing my best."

I take a step forward, but she doesn't follow along, evidently because she is lost in thought.

After a couple moments of this, she purses her lips and makes a strange face. "Okay, new idea: we could hit the bookstore. It's really nice; only a block away, too."

I glance around briefly at the storefronts around us. "No, that's alright. I usually just borrow from the library if I want to read something-"

"Borrow?" she scoffs. "Boring! If you buy it, then you _have_ it, y'know?"

"I guess I can't argue with that. It's just that-"

"Oh, it's just that _nothing_ , Hisao! C'mon, I've been dragging you around all afternoon. I want you to go get something for yourself so I don't have to feel bad."

"No, no, don't feel bad." I glance at my watch again and shrug. "I just mean- isn't it getting a little… late?"

"Late? You kidding me?" Naomi closes the distance between us in a flash, grabbing my wrist with her free hand to look at my watch. "5:00 is late now? Geez, you really are a grandpa."

"Well, I don't mean _late_ so much… it's just that, we've got that long bus ride, and then we have classes tomorrow…"

"Yeah, yeah. You're right." She releases my wrist with a sigh and wanders a few steps away from me. "Dinner, then. What are you in the mood for?"

"Anything."

I'm a bit too proud to admit it, but I seriously regret not getting any actual food for lunch. I'm hungry enough that I would honestly eat anywhere, as long as they seated us quickly.

"Hungry? Yeah, me too," Naomi sighs. "I know a fancy place would probably be more romantic, or whatever, but I'd really rather go somewhere that wouldn't make me feel out-of-place in jeans and a tee."

She looks down and checks her outfit, turning her leg inwards to look at her jeans from the side. There are absolutely no complaints about what she's wearing from my end, and I'm pretty sure she knows that, as I know she's caught me staring at least once today. She never said anything about it, though… which is pretty suspicious, knowing her.

I straighten out my shirt self-consciously, clearing my throat. "I, uh- I'm not exactly dressed for a formal place, either."

"Well, there's this little French bistro-type place just nearby. It's really more aimed at the lunch crowd, so it's not too fancy, but the food is awesome. And it should be a little more quiet… and, y'know, private."

"Private? Yeah, that, uh… that's important."

"Right."

She raises an eyebrow at me and smirks, taking off again. I do my best to catch up with her, but the fifty-pound weights in the shopping bag take me by surprise and weigh me down, forcing me to trail behind.

The restaurant she leads us to is small and tucked away, hidden at the end of a remote strip of shops. The building itself is pretty tiny, so the majority of the seating is outdoors, on the patio in front. As such, we're seated at the table nearest to the door, giving us both a full view of all the other diners out on the patio. Just as Naomi said, the place is pretty sparse, and everyone seems to be exclusively dining in pairs.

Come to think of it, I doubt any of these tables are big enough to comfortably seat more than two people. I'd bet anything Naomi knew about it, and figured this would be a good location for a date. If it were just a little darker out- and a little further from the nearby city traffic- I bet this place would actually make for a pretty romantic evening.

Naomi takes off her sun hat as soon as we sit down, stuffing it into one of the shopping bags we leaned against the table leg. Her hair is a little tousled from being stuffed into the hat, so she shakes it out like a dog and runs a hand through it to get it out of her face. She _knows_ it's cute, too; it's written all over her face. What a show-off.

"I've been thinking about putting it up in twin-tails," she hums, leaning into the table. "What do you think?"

…I can't help the comparison.

"You can't do that. That's Emi's thing."

"Bullshit! Ibarazaki does not have a monopoly on twin-tails. And besides, I've been doing it longer than she has. I had 'em ages ago. And they were cuter on me than they are on her, too."

She scoffs when I laugh at that. "Is that a fact?"

"You think I'm cute now? You should have seen me at 16. I really knew how to play up the bubbly schoolgirl thing back then. Met a lot of interesting guys that way, too." She glances around shiftily, smirking. "Oh, the stories I could tell…"

"You've dated a lot at Yamaku?"

"Yeah. _Oh_ , yeah," she laughs.

She says that in a very knowing way, like I'm supposed to be picking up on some kind of subtext here, but it's lost on me. I don't know what that look is, and it seems ill-advised to ask.

Before I get the chance to come up with a response, the waiter arrives to take our drink orders, and Naomi gets an orange soda. I just have water, which she immediately decries for being boring.

"Something you should know about me, Hisao," Naomi continues once the waiter leaves. "If you ask me out- as long as I don't think you're creepy- I can pretty much guarantee that I'll say yes."

"Even if you're not interested?"

"Why not? It's fun! At the very least, it's a good way to meet people."

I shrug. "That would probably stress me out. Agreeing to a date with someone I wasn't interested in, I mean."

"Nah, it's not stressful if you have the right attitude. I'm always thinking, once I get to know them better, maybe they'll change my mind. You know?"

The more she talks, the more puzzled I become about what happened yesterday. It seemed like a big deal to me- and I have been kind of gratified by that- but now she's starting to make me think that maybe I'm just too uptight about it. I wonder if this is her way of telling me to manage my expectations.

…Well, I'll be damned if _I'm_ coming on too strong.

The waiter arrives with our drinks, and Naomi chirps an overly-enthusiastic 'thank you' at him.

"So this is no big deal, then, right? Just any normal Sunday afternoon. I'm just filling in for Natsume."

"Oh, more or less, but Natsume and I usually at least wait until we get off the bus before we start exchanging bodily fluids." She lets that sink in for a moment, completely stone-faced, before breaking into a broad grin and laughing at me. "Look, Hisao, this was _my_ idea, and that is definitely saying something. You've got nothing to worry about."

I laugh lightly, a little disarmed, and break eye contact. "Thanks."

I don't know what it is about her smile, but it makes it hard to feel insecure around her. She just gives off this air of unfettered confidence, like she knows for a fact that my anxiety is misplaced.

She takes a moment more to be amused with me before giving up waiting for me to continue. "All I'm saying is, I really like getting to know people. Everyone has a different history, and story, and personality… I think that's fascinating. It's what I like about the city- so many different kinds of people," She raps her fingers along her glass as she explains it, gaze fixed somewhere on the road past the patio.

I can't help but think back to my own hometown again. The city used to seem really big and unapproachable back then, especially as a kid. Like everyone there is just a small part of a giant, faceless mob. That's one of the reasons I tried to stick with a gang of my friends.

"But that doesn't mean it's easier to get to know people," I counter. "The thing about the city is, even though there are a ton of people, everyone's a stranger to everyone else."

"Yeah, well, strangers are interesting, too. Do you remember what I told you when we met? People aren't so hard to figure out if you pay attention." She bites her lip and glances around, looking for an example, before settling on one of the couples on the other end of the patio. She points to them as subtly as possible- which is not very subtly, incidentally. "There."

At the table Naomi points to sits an absolutely gorgeous young woman and a much stockier middle-aged man. It's actually kind of a funny sight, as rude as that observation would probably be to make out loud.

"What do you think is the deal with them? They can't be married, can they? I'll bet you anything he's her sugar daddy." Naomi waves me on, inviting me to contribute. "What do you think they're thinking right now?"

"What? I don't know!" I glance self-consciously at the couple at the other table, even though they obviously can't hear us and probably haven't even noticed us sitting here.

"I'll tell you what they're thinking. He's thinking, 'This is what eight years of medical school has bought me. May as well make the most of it.' She's thinking, 'I'd like to see Mom say she's disappointed in me when we show up for Christmas in a sports car.' And they're _both_ wondering why they are going to the trouble of wining and dining."

I take another look. "…Maybe she's his daughter?"

She laughs out loud right away, waving her hand around dismissively. "No. No way."

"Well, how do you know? They don't look that different. They could be related."

"Look at her! That blouse! Nobody shows that much cleavage to go get dinner with their dad." She taps on her collarbone. "One button undone? That's style. Two buttons? Okay, maybe I'd buy that; it's a hot day. But three buttons? No, _that_ is definitely advertising."

…Well, she _is_ showing a lot of cleavage. Though I hadn't taken the time to count her buttons.

Absolutely confident, Naomi smirks at the couple before returning to her soda and relaxing comfortably into her chair.

"Do you do this with everybody?"

"Everybody I find interesting."

"And you think you're right, most of the time?"

"That's what I tell myself, anyway. People-watching is a hobby of mine. Do it a lot, and you tend to get an eye for it. Practice makes perfect." She glances off to the side at our waiter, who has just started to approach our table. "You gonna look at your menu, or what?"

I'm startled for a moment- I hadn't even thought about it. Naomi hasn't looked at her menu, either, which is why it hadn't crossed my mind, but she seems completely unconcerned, so I assume she must have already known what she would be ordering.

The menu is a little overwhelming, mostly due to the fact that it's almost all French cuisine and is peppered with options I don't know if I could actually pronounce. All things considered, I'm thankful it's even in my price range.

"What can I get the two of you?" asks the waiter, much sooner than I'd like.

Naomi glances at me for a split-second before turning to him. "Would you recommend the steak tartare?"

"I recommend everything," he replies with a soft smile.

"Okay, but what about the steak tartare _specifically_?"

"I. Um, well, I try to avoid raw meat, to be honest…" He seems a little embarrassed, but recovers quickly and gives an apologetic smile. "But I hear it's excellent. If that's the sort of thing that suits your palate, I'm sure you'll like it."

"Cool. That, then."

"Of course." The waiter turns immediately to me, though still scribbling down Naomi's order. "And for you, sir?"

I still have no idea what to get, so I just glance down at my menu and blurt out the first thing I spot. "Uh… I'll just have the tuna…"

"Excellent choice."

Naomi rolls her eyes at me as the waiter collects our menus. "Wow. Adventurous."

He fails to suppress a chuckle at that just before turning away, and then shoots me a look like he's expecting it to bother me. I wave him off.

"Not your kind of place?" she asks once he's out of earshot.

"No, no, I just… didn't have much time to look at the menu. I guess you already knew what you wanted, so that threw me off."

"Yeah, it was something I wanted to try."

I squint suspiciously at that. "Does that mean you had this place in mind when you suggested we get dinner yesterday?"

"It was one of the places I thought we could try. I've been meaning to come back." She debates whether to continue for a moment, stirring her straw around in her drink. "Natsume's hard to eat out with. We tried this place a while ago, not long after it opened, and she didn't like it, so we haven't been since. But I really liked the food the first time."

"So why didn't you just take a boy instead?"

…It's almost accusatory, the way I say it. I don't even know where that question came from.

I think it's something about the way she's looking at me. It feels practiced. She said she's done a lot of dating at Yamaku; all of a sudden I can't help being suspicious that she's playing me somehow.

She seems amused- and a little surprised, at least enough to hesitate for a moment- by my question. "What do you think I'm doing now?"

"It's just that you said you do a lot of dating. So I'm surprised you haven't taken the opportunity to come here earlier than this."

"Well, not everyone takes all of my suggestions without question."

She sips loudly out of her cup, triumphant. I'm not letting her off that easy.

"You said there are a lot of stories you could tell."

"Stories?"

"Yeah. About guys you dated at Yamaku."

"Tsch. Well, it wasn't a lie. I mean, not happy stories, but stories…"

Just in case it wasn't already clear that I was asking her to elaborate, I open my hands to invite her to talk.

"You really want to talk about my ex-boyfriends?" Naomi asks with a snicker, giving me curious look. "Doesn't really strike me as good first-date chitchat material, but…"

"Hell, I'm not jealous. You made me curious."

She watches me do it for a long time before responding, but the pause is deliberate.

"There was a guy with an eyepatch. Tanjiro. He had a scar that trailed halfway down his face, like the evil lion from _The_ _Lion King_."

She had to take the time to choose the _right_ story.

We exchange a glance, and she raises an eyebrow at me, which makes me realize she was waiting for permission to continue. It's a funny courtesy to give me, like I would have deemed her story too boring and forbid her from telling it.

I chuckle quietly and shrug. "Sounds interesting."

She smiles for a moment and then leans back in her chair, taking her time to figure out how to start. "It was way, way back, when I was just starting my first year at Yamaku. And I was naïve and a little stupid back then, mind you. Like kids are."

"Sure."

"So there was this guy Tanjiro from the vision-impaired class, a year above me- and to this day I still don't know the details- who lost an eye in an accident. And he walked around-" She stops herself to give her the chance to crack up, holding up a finger to stop me. "-like I said, he walked around with this… giant black eyepatch, on an elastic band around the back of his head."

She presses her hand against her right eye to demonstrate, giggling from the memory of it. My first thought is that it seems pretty mean-spirited to make fun of the guy for an injury, and all I can really do is pretend to laugh.

I look her in her uncovered eye and shrug. "What, like a… pirate?"

Naomi seems too caught up in her own story to notice my hesitation, and snorts with laughter as she lowers her hand to the table. "I know, I know, I know. But at the time I thought it was kinda sexy. Like, dangerous, mysterious, that kind of thing. He had that kind of look, with the spiky hair, and the- you know."

I'm not sure I know. Maybe I should have gelled my hair this morning after all. I don't know if I could really get it 'spiky'.

"Point is," Naomi continues, "he could tell I was into it when I met him. And, like, right off the bat, he started talking about his eyepatch, and what it was like dealing with, like, depth perception and shit. He just offered it up out of nowhere, 'cause he could tell that's what had caught my eye. He even showed me the injury; lifted up the eyepatch and all. It was really bad, kind of hard to look at. And I was still basically a total stranger at that point. But he was trying really hard to seem tough."

"How did you meet him? Didn't you say he was a year above you?"

"Oh, yeah, he was, uh, in the chess club. That was where this we met the first time, actually."

"You met… in the _chess_ club?"

"Yeah. So what? I happen to like chess." She shoots me a playful look and laughs out loud. "But no, I didn't actually join the club. I just sat in during one of their… meetings, or whatever it was. Don't forget, this was the very beginning of the year, so I didn't have _any_ friends, and I was kinda desperate. So I was just doing a lot of different stuff to try and meet people."

"Sounds like it worked."

"For better or worse, I guess. I didn't actually play any chess, 'cause I was talking to Tanjiro the whole time. We started hanging out a lot over the next few days or so, and he told me all about himself. Like, his family, and his history at Yamaku and everything. And it was the most depressing goddamn thing I've ever heard."

"How so?"

"His family practically disowned him. They didn't know what to do with him, so they dumped him at Yamaku and never looked back. His friends were basically too freaked out to talk to him afterward, and he had to move away from them, anyway. He- geez- the girl he last dated, Miu. He told me they dated for months, but she was so disgusted by the way he looked afterward that she couldn't stand to be around him anymore." Naomi purses her lips, frowning slightly now. "That's what he told me. I felt so sorry for him. I mean, I'd heard some bad stuff about other people. Rough family lives, or whatever. But Tanjiro, what he told me, it was so ugly…"

She's looking at the table now, lost in thought and looking uncomfortably serious. I feel like I should say something, but I don't know how to interject. I hadn't realized this story was going to be this emotionally charged.

It's just the way she talked about it. Everything she talks about, even serious stuff, she has this way of sounding… relaxed about it. But I can't tell if it's her or me. Maybe I'm still just bad at reading her.

She laughs quietly after a little while and slaps her hand down on the table, apparently brushing it off. "So, anyway, things got a little bit more serious over the next, like, week and half or so. And, y'know. I rushed into things with him. He showed me his room, and his stupid collection of eyepatches- like, _really_ stupid. Like, one of them had a skull on it. Ordered some of them off the internet. He thought he was in a biker gang or something. Even back then I thought it was kind of stupid." Smiling now, she glances up at me, just to make sure I'm still paying attention. "Anyway, he was the only guy I had been hanging out with at that time, so I asked him to introduce me to his friends, and _immediately_ everything went to shit. Immediately. My very first time hanging out with them, they called bullshit on every single thing he told me. He hadn't even mentioned to them that he was lying to me, and they just immediately stabbed him in the back the first chance they got and told me he was still in contact with his old friends, and his family hadn't disowned him or anything. 100% bullshit. It turns out his old girlfriend Miu actually used to be part of their friend group. Which means she was a _Yamaku_ student, which means she didn't even _meet_ him until he was already injured. And the real reason she left him- I mean, I'm assuming _aside_ from the fact that he's the worst- is that she had ALS, and she had to take an extended leave from school to do intensive physical therapy. And he was _blaming_ her! Can you believe that?"

She pauses for a response, and I'm caught a little off-guard by the direct question. If a story like that doesn't warrant a contemplative pause, I don't know what does. But I'm still working through everything she told me when I hear myself reply. "I- wait, is that a serious question?"

"Pft. No. Good catch," she chuckles. "What really gets me is, he didn't even really _need_ to be at Yamaku for his injury, you know? At least, not like I do. It's not like he needed to get treatment from the nurse for his eye or anything. He could have still gone to public school. He just went there because he wanted to, and his parents were generous enough to send him."

"That's some lie to come up with on the spot…"

"That's what I was thinking. I was wondering if he had, like, been using that story with other girls, but apparently he had a long-term girlfriend before we met, so I don't think so." She shakes her head harshly, and her bangs fly out in front of her face, almost covering her eyes. "He made up all that shit to make me pity him, just to get in my pants. I mean, am I crazy, or is that the scummiest thing on Earth?"

"You're not crazy," I reply, exhaling loudly. "Geez, what a plot."

"Yeah, well. The stupid thing is, it worked. I lost my virginity to him." She shrugs at me with stunning nonchalance, then leans into the table to take a sip of soda. "Wanted to make it work with him 'cause of that, but, y'know, he was an asshole. I dumped him not long after. All told, from beginning to end, the whole thing happened in about the same amount of time that's passed since I met you."

I shake my head, unsure of how to respond. This seems seriously personal, the kind of thing I wouldn't tell anyone short of a close friend about. She doesn't even seem that _bothered_ about it, but there's no way I can presume something like that, right? How am I supposed to know whether this is weighing on her? Even still, she barely knows me, and yet she's willing to tell me so much. That has to count for something.

Man, she barely _knows_ me.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Naomi says lightheartedly.

We exchange a glance, and I hesitate. I can't help but suspect she's just trying to put me at ease, but she really does look relaxed.

"I… just… that isn't exactly what I was expecting when you said you had stories to tell," I say uncertainly, after a beat.

Naomi shrugs. "Yep. Told ya they weren't happy."

"No kidding."

"Fucking Tanjiro."

She snickers wryly.

I don't want to pity her, and I'm sure she doesn't want to be pitied, but I can't think of anything fitting to add that would be appropriate.

"I'm sorry, Naomi," I say clumsily.

"Nah. Don't be sorry." Naomi sighs and looks me right in the eye. It feels earnest, that way she gets when she really wants to let me know she's serious. "I'm not beat up about it. It's just a mistake that I'm not gonna repeat."

I relax a little bit, even if just for her sake. "I can't imagine that everyone you've dated was like that."

"No, of course not!" she blurts out, making a face. "Not even close. I'm still friends with-"

"Then why is he the one you decided to tell me about?"

My interruption doesn't seem to bother her at all. In fact, she almost seems impressed by it.

It's nice to be on the same page.

"I think I like that story," Naomi says slowly, cupping her glass in both hands while she thinks about her answer. "You know, in a certain sense. It felt appropriate."

"Appropriate?"

"Appropriate." Another pause, even more brief this time. "The moral of that story is, some people are so self-absorbed that it's like… a sickness. Like they are genuinely incapable of putting thinking about the needs of others, or putting themselves in someone else's shoes. I think that's my least favorite trait a person can have."

"And that's appropriate because…?"

"Hisao, what's your heart condition called again?"

The change in subject is so abrupt that I barely have time to register it.

"Huh?"

"Your heart condition. You mentioned it after I had my seizure in class."

"Arrhythmia."

"Right." She snaps her fingers, like she just solved a riddle. "Hisao, I can't help but notice that all day long, we have talked about me the _entire_ time. And don't get me wrong, I love talking about me, but that's the kind of thing I pick up on."

"Still trying to figure me out, huh?"

"Now more than ever." She studies my face for a little while, then turns away to look over her shoulder. "…Man, the food is taking forever. How long does it take to _not_ cook a steak?"

"I got tuna," I reply flatly.

She turns back to me immediately, grinning. "Yeah, you did. Interesting choice for a date, by the way. Good thing they give breath mints."

"Oh. Yeah."

I blush instantly, and Naomi giggles at my reaction. She's not wrong, though; I'm gonna be worrying about my breath for the rest of the night now.

"Hey, tell me something," Naomi commands, resting her elbows down and leaning on her hands. "Am I crazy? Did I dream this? I could have sworn we were on the bus today, and you leaned over my seat, and put my hand behind my head, and-"

"I really don't know where that came from," I say hurriedly.

"Yeah, you're telling me."

"Should I have done it again by now?"

"…Well, I'm not gonna say it's ever been off the table."

She's breathing more loudly now, or at least I'm more aware of it.

She looks away, very slightly and only for a moment- then she sits straight up and makes direct eye contact with me, fast enough to make me flinch.

"So… this is happening?" she asks slowly, waving a hand between us to highlight the distance. "We're gonna do this? For real?"

I meet her eyes firmly. "I'd like to."

The table is too long for me lean over it to kiss her, but I almost try to do it anyway. At the last second, I change my mind and shuffle back in my chair, stunningly awkward. If Naomi picks up on it, she does me the courtesy of not laughing.

"So I guess that means I definitely have to pay for your food now," I say gruffly.

"No. Hell no. You're not paying." She shakes her head dismissively.

"Yes, I am."

"No, you are not."

"Yesterday you seemed pretty insistent that I should."

"That was a j-" She freezes, stopping short. "…Oh. Oh, man."

"What?"

"Look, Hisao, I'm not saying you don't have a shot… but I have a ton of work to do tonight. For the newspaper. Truth be told, I probably should have been doing it this afternoon… I'll be in the computer lab at 6 AM working on it. So I kind of have to go straight to my room once we get back to school."

Her concern is so misplaced that I can't help but laugh. "Oh, Naomi, I wasn't trying to invite myself-"

"Oh, I know!" she interjects. "I know that. I just thought you should know what I would be busy doing tonight. Y'know, so we're exactly on the same page." She nods her head slowly. "…'Cause I had a good time today."

"Good. So did I." I smile gently. "And we'll do this again, right? I'm not going anywhere."

"I should hope not," laughs Naomi. "I'm not done with you yet."

"That's ominous."

"There's still plenty I want to ask you."

She bites on her nail absentmindedly, gazing curiously across the table.

I lay down my hands. "…I'll clear my schedule."


	11. Act 2 - Dateline

**Author's Note (Update 9/4):** Didn't want to kill another month between chapters but the time came and went. Oh, well.

I have been chipping away at chapter 12, but _very_ slowly. Progress has slowed down a lot and I realized that that's mostly due to lack of motivation. This fic simply has me burned out right now, so for the time being I'm going to place it on hiatus to give myself some time to get enthusiastic about it again and continue to write something I'm passionate about.

As usual, thanks to everyone who has been sticking with this fic so far. I love to get feedback and appreciate anyone who wants to take the time to drop a review and give me their thoughts.

In the meantime, before the next update, I have another KS fic in the works which I am planning to drop fairly soon. Hope you'll check it out!

Till then, thanks for reading, all!

* * *

The cafeteria is nearly dead at seven in the morning. With nobody else to talk to or even overhear, I resign myself to standing off to the side and watching sugar dissolve into a cup of coffee. It's lukewarm and not very strong, as coffee from the cafeteria is, but I figure it's better than nothing. God knows I'm going to need some this morning, and Naomi is probably feeling the same way.

Usually, if I woke up as early if I did today, I would be inclined to bury myself in my covers and get another hour of sleep. Nice as that sounds, though, she mentioned that she would be working in the computer lab this morning, so I figure coming to help her out is the right thing to do. Possibly even what I'm _expected_ to do, since Naomi is actually my girlfriend now.

Huh.

That's kind of exciting.

A drink in each hand, I stroll up the stairs up to the first floor of the academic building, though most of the lights are off and all the classrooms are locked shut. The narrow hall that contains the computer lab has light shining under a door just before the end, apparently the only occupied room within it. Without further ado, I take off for the end of the hall, pushing down the door handle with the bottom of my coffee cup and forcing the door the rest of the way open with my back.

"Hello? Anyone alone and working themselves to death in here?" I call out, tilting my head into the lab and putting on as chipper of a voice as I can in spite of my grogginess.

I spot a girl's figure jump out of her seat with surprise near the back of the room, but after a moment she throws a hand into the air and flips around, trying not to look too discombobulated. Her glasses nearly fall off of her face, and she fixes them with some embarrassment.

…It's not Naomi, and I feel like an idiot for making that voice.

"Is that Hisao? Good morning!"

Natsume meets me at the doorway with a surprisingly pleasant smile, glancing down at the coffee cups in my hands. I hold mine close to me, and she snatches the other one from my right hand, smiling mischievously.

"Oh, for me? Well, isn't that thoughtful?" she says with pursed lips, turning away with the cup in hand. Once she takes a few steps closer to her computer, she takes a sip and physically recoils with disgust. "Eugh, Hisao, how much sugar did you _put_ in this thing?"

I frown guiltily. "Uh… six packets."

Natsume looks down at the cup in her hand with a grimace, then over her shoulder at me. "…I suppose I probably should have seen that coming."

"Sorry. I just didn't really expect to see you here this morning."

"Yeah, well, likewise." She slumps into her chair at her computer and turns it around to face me, crossing her legs and holding her coffee cup with both hands. "So how was your date?"

Okay, then. We're just going to go straight there.

"I… didn't realize you knew about that," I say slowly, taking a seat in one of the chairs at the conference table.

"Well, _I_ didn't realize it was supposed to be a secret. Naomi told me it was why she cancelled our plans yesterday."

Natsume sighs disapprovingly at the memory of it. I had assumed Naomi was just going to make up an excuse, but I suppose it's no surprise that she admitted outright why she wanted to cancel their plans together. Still, ignorance is bliss sometimes.

"Yeah. Uh, sorry about that," I say halfheartedly, scratching behind my head. "It was Naomi's idea; I didn't really mean to get in the way of your plans."

"Don't apologize. I'm well aware of Naomi's priorities." She rolls her eyes, but I can tell she's proud of herself anyway.

"Yeah, about that… Naomi told me she'd be in here working this morning. Did I miss her, or…?"

"She's out," Natsume replies curtly, lifting her cup to gesture toward the door. "Supposedly she is working, but I'd bet anything she's relaxing and having breakfast or something instead."

"Don't you think that's a good idea? I mean, how long have you been up this morning? There's still plenty of time before class starts." I realize even as I ask that I'm just looking for an excuse to shirk off work and hang out with Naomi, but I suppose there's no polite way to bring it up without inviting Natsume along as well.

"It's not a good idea if I want to get any work done. Besides, sometimes I'm more productive by myself." Natsume closes her eyes and takes a long breath, clearly fighting off sleep. "Although, that said, I'd give my left arm to have Hiro here taking notes for me right now. But I don't have the heart to drag him out of bed on a Monday morning."

"You really think he'd come help if you dragged him out of bed?"

Natsume lowers her glasses with one hand, making sudden eye contact. She doesn't need to say any more than that.

"Poor kid," I snicker.

"He's sweet. The least we can do is not hold that against him… so I'm working alone this morning."

"I'd be happy to help you, if you need it, Natsume," I volunteer, immediately wincing at my typical instinctive response.

One of these days I'm going to get roped into a serious commitment. Like a club.

Natsume seems momentarily impressed with me for offering, but quickly shakes her head to dismiss the idea, fixing her glasses slightly as she adjusts her seat to turn back to her computer.

"I appreciate the offer, but I can't accept, Hisao. You have a job of your own. If you're going to do work for us this morning, you should be doing that," she explains rigidly, as though I should have already started working on it.

I blink once. "What? I have a job?"

She lets out a playful groan, obviously unsurprised. "Don't tell me you forgot already. You're supposed to be investigating our little library book thief."

Oh, right. For some reason, my memories of our meeting on Saturday aren't much focused on the club work we did.

"Oh. _That_ job," I reply meekly. Speaking of things I agreed to too quickly… "But… what do you want me to actually do?"

She shrugs with one hand. "Oh, I don't know, maybe go to the _library_ , for starters?"

"Who in the world would be hanging out in the library this early before class?"

"Maybe someone who doesn't want to attract attention?" She looks over her shoulder at me with a raised eyebrow as she says that. "We have to get moving on the paper this week. You don't have to do it this morning, but you're going to have to find some time to get some work done _today_ , and I know you have plans this afternoon."

"…I don't have plans this afternoon."

"That's not what I heard."

Yep, that sounds about right.

Natsume gives me a bemused look as I realize what she means, and she takes a triumphant sip of her stolen coffee, though she can't help making another face at it.

"Fine," I concede, "but I can't promise that I'm going to come up with anything useful for the paper."

"As long as you take the time to ask around." With a brief nod, she leans over her computer and pulls out a clipboard, evidently the one Hiro usually carries around with him.

I rap my fingers over my coffee cup. "If you see Naomi, please remind her that it's the thought that counts."

"I'll see you in class, Hisao," she snickers, holding out the clipboard behind her for me to take.

I adjust the papers on it as I make my way out of the computer lab, still holding my coffee in the other hand. I feel like a stuffy businessman all of a sudden… I think I'll ditch the tie on my uniform, at least until class starts.

I'm still fixing my shirt as I reach the entrance to the library, which is as dead as I have ever seen it. I don't know exactly when it opens, but it can't have been long ago, given that there doesn't appear to be anyone behind the counter.

…Unless someone just forgot to lock the door.

"Hello?"

A stack of books on the counter collapses as Yuuko thumps her head against the bottom, trying to rush her way up to greet me.

I flash her a friendly smile to keep her from feeling embarrassed, but it's clearly a lost cause. "Morning, Yuuko."

"Good morning…" she groans unhappily, rubbing the back of her head. "Um… sorry… how can I help you this morning?"

"I'm just poking around a bit. You don't get a lot of people before class, huh?"

"No, sorry… people usually wait until after class when they have more time, so it's usually pretty sparse this early." She pokes her fingers together as she thinks about it. "Unless you don't _want_ there to be anyone here, since it is quieter, and people do tend to come to the library for peace and quiet, so…"

"Well, I was kind of hoping there would be a _few_ people around…" I reply slowly, glancing back at the empty tables that people usually study at in the afternoon. Yuuko's apologetic glare reminds me that I haven't explained myself yet. "…Uh, so, here's the thing. I'm in the newspaper club now, and I am looking into this story someone told me about. Stolen library books… might you know anything about that…?"

Yuuko tenses up as soon as the words come out of my mouth, and thinks with a very stern expression for a few seconds before leaning into the counter and waving me closer.

"Do you know who it is?" Yuuko hisses at me as I lean into the counter, clearly trying to keep her voice down even though there is nobody in sight anywhere.

"That's kind of what I'm here to find out."

"Hold on."

With a huff, Yuuko disappears under her desk, rifling through her things out of sight. As soon as I lean over to see what she is doing, she pops up again, nearly colliding with me, and slams down an enormous binder on top of the desk.

"I have something for you," she explains, sifting through various tabs before settling on the one she was looking for. After a wayward glance to make sure she isn't being watched, she slides a sheet of paper across the desk face-down, and I try to look stealthy as I pick it up to look at it.

It's an ordinary sheet of lined paper, like a page ripped out of a school notebook. As far as I can tell, there's nothing important on it… just doodlings; a girl with octopus legs, a couple sketches of a boy and the name "Maharu" with a little heart around it in the corner. Is it supposed to be some kind of code? I stare at it for a little while but can't come up with anything.

I meet eyes with Yuuko when I glance up from the paper and shrug at her uncertainly. "Uh… I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with-"

In an instant, Yuuko whips her hand out to snatch the paper from me, swiftly replacing it with another page from the binder.

"That's the wrong paper. Please forget you saw that."

The new document looks like official Yamaku stationery. It's a bullet-pointed list of textbooks- no, library books in general- marked and itemized all the way down to the bottom. It's mostly school-related texts, but there are a few odd standouts- fluffy romance novels and _Pride and Prejudice_.

"That's part of the inventory list," Yuuko whispers, trying to lean over the desk and read it upside-down at the same time. "I've been keeping stock on everything we lose. It just seems to disappear at random…"

"This is everything that's been stolen? There's got to be over a dozen books here…"

"Fourteen, actually, but it's been accumulating over a long time. I've gone back to check the shelves every time something's gone missing, but whenever I do, I just end up getting afraid that I'm going to rearrange things by mistake, and then things might get reported missing even if they're still here…"

"It just seems like a lot of inventory to lose, if you're sure this was all stolen by one person." Some of these are pretty large books, too; I'd bet even one of them would be a hit. "Someone probably owes you a lot of money."

"And if they don't _pay_ it, who do you think is the one that is going to get penalized?" Working herself into a panic, Yuuko takes a few paces behind the counter and gnaws on her fingernails. "Keeping track of the book checkouts is part of my responsibility… and the more books that haven't been checked out, the more serious it gets. If they don't have someone specific to blame, they're going to blame the person who checks them out, and if they do that, I'm going to have to replace them personally. …And forget that, because the more books I have to replace, the worse I'm going to look in front of my boss… if I can't even keep track of the books in a library, what use do they have for a librarian like that?" She stops short suddenly to take a breath, tugging on a strand of hair in front of her face. "Do you understand? I _need_ this job, okay? I can't even afford to replace the stolen inventory!"

"Don't you have another job?"

"I need _that_ job, too!"

She shoots me a sharp, pleading glare, which makes me regret that I can't do more to help.

I glance down at my clipboard, which I guess I should probably be using to take notes or something. "Well… I don't know how much I can do to help, but I'll see what I can find out…"

Yuuko softens a little as I do this, apparently catching on to the fact that I have no idea what I'm doing, and stares at the floor with embarrassment. "I'm sorry; it's not your fault… I'm not trying to be rude. I just don't know what I'm going to do…"

I tap my pen against the clipboard absentmindedly. I'm not exactly a hard-boiled detective, granted, but to be fair, I doubt the person behind this is some kind of master thief, either. It can't be that hard to find someone if they've been consistently skimming books from the library for a month.

What would Naomi do in this situation? Honestly, I have no idea.

I go with my gut instead. "Why don't we start with what you already know?" I ask with a shrug. "That could help us narrow down the possibilities."

Yeah… that sounds reporter-y. Good work, brain.

Yuuko seems encouraged that I decided to take some initiative, and nods a few times to herself, thinking aloud. "Okay, well… I don't see why someone who wasn't in class would steal a textbook, so we can probably assume that it was a student, right…?"

"That makes sense to me." I take another look at the inventory list. "What else?"

"I was thinking it was probably a girl- I mean, not that I want to assume anything, because all kinds of people check out all kinds of books, but some of the ones on the list…"

"Yeah. I saw that, too. I was thinking the same thing."

"And…" Yuuko continues, tapping her hand on the counter with some kind of sudden invigoration, "…and it has to be someone who comes in a lot! One of the regulars in the library, I mean. Because I almost never see more than one book go missing in a day, but I've seen them go two days in a row before, and that means they must have taken a lot of consecutive trips."

"…So a girl who spends a lot of time in the library. Easy enough place to start, right?" I finish jotting these bullet points on the clipboard, a little underwhelmed by how small the list is when it's laid out on paper.

"Really? That's enough for you? So you think you will be able to find out who did it?"

I throw up my hands just on instinct, to protect myself from any even remotely high expectations. "Whoa, well, I don't know. It's just something to look into, that's all."

"Okay, yes… I just don't know how much more I can help you than that."

"That's alright. I'll bring this back to the rest of the newspaper club, they may want to look into-"

"Wait!" Yuuko steadies herself a little before continuing. "I was just saying, the best thing to do, rather than staying here talking to me… would be to talk to students directly, because I can't focus all my attention on everyone who comes in and out. I have to check out books and everything during the day… which is probably how I got myself into this mess in the first place." She glances under the counter, looking flustered again.

"Yeah, we will. But don't you think it would make more sense to come back when it's not so dead in the library?" I glance around again- library or not, it really is distractingly quiet in here.

"Well, the thing is," Yuuko responds slowly, "I was thinking, there is definitely someone who comes to mind who has been in here that much… and she is in this morning… so… maybe it would be a good idea for you try to get some information out of her…?" She stands on her toes and points in the direction of the bookshelves, leaning on the desk with one hand for balance. "You know Hanako Ikezawa? She came in not too long ago, and I think she's the only upperclassman here right now besides you…"

Yuuko blinks twice and then slumps behind the desk again, like she's embarrassed to even be talking about this. She thinks Hanako is in on a secret plot to steal school property?

She cannot be serious. I don't think Hanako has it in her to steal a free sample from a supermarket. She may technically fit our criteria, but our criteria are pretty broad right now, so it's not exactly damning evidence.

I shoot Yuuko a look. "You don't think…?"

"That she's the thief? No, no, she's very timid; I don't think she would do something like that," Yuuko explains, chuckling nervously at the thought. "Buuut… she _is_ here a lot, so she probably sees things that I don't in the area near the bookshelves. So she would probably be a good person to talk to, while you have the opportunity. Um, don't you think?"

If Natsume were here, I know she would be scolding me to do my job and investigate. But then, Natsume _isn't_ here… and I really don't want to talk to Hanako about this.

Then again, my alternative is refusing Yuuko to her face, and I am afraid she might break down if I do that.

"Sure, I'll talk to her," I reply, doing my best not to give away my reluctance.

"Let me know if you find out anything new!"

"I'll keep you updated. Thanks for your help, Yuuko."

I take a deep breath for my own sake, then pat my hand on the table and set off for the nook over by the bookshelf that Yuuko pointed out.

"And Hisao." I turn my head to glance at Yuuko over my shoulder. "Whoever this thief is," she says grimly, "they know what they're doing, okay? They're a real criminal. Just, um… watch yourself."

She tilts her head to the side, pouting a little. She clearly takes her job very seriously, credit where it's due.

I lift a single hand in acknowledgment and continue walking. "…Yeah. Thanks, I will."

Trying half-heartedly to look cool, I keep my gaze fixed toward the floor, but a bit of nervousness returns to me as I think about having to talk to Hanako again.

Hanako is exactly where Yuuko said she was, curled up by herself behind a book in the corner between two bookshelves. She glances up briefly when she hears me approach, but doesn't say anything. I guess she's hoping I'm just going to walk past. But no such luck, for either of us.

I hold my hands behind me, stopping a comfortable distance away from her. "Uh. Hey, Hanako."

She remains still for an uncomfortably long time, like she is deliberating over whether or not she could get away with just pretending she didn't hear me.

I cup my hands meekly and stay still, and eventually she lifts her eyes from the book, the upper half of her face just poking into view.

"H-hi," she murmurs.

"I'm Hisao, from class… I don't know if you…" I take a breath as I trail off and take one step to the side, trying to look friendly. "Do you mind if I sit here…?"

She freezes again, but shakes her head very slightly after studying my face for a few moments. As I sit, she returns to her book again, and I cannot stop myself from sighing audibly.

"Sure is quiet here in the morning," I remark, glancing back toward the rest of the library.

"Y-yes; it's nice…" Hanako replies from behind her book, speaking slowly and unsurely.

"Yeah. I... think so, too."

I rap my fingers along my knee, growing more anxious by the moment by our inability to talk to each other.

This was a ridiculous idea. Of course Hanako is not going to be of any use to interview; I can barely even introduce myself to her without scaring her. I don't know why I ever thought this would be worth-

"So, I'm with the newspaper, and I was hoping I could maybe ask you a couple of questions," I hear myself say, and wince as the words come out of my mouth. I honestly do not know why I felt compelled to continue.

She lowers her book from her face again, now with incredibly wide eyes, like I've said something bone-chilling. Who could have seen that coming?

"I- I… I don't want to be in the n- newspaper…" she manages to stammer out, her face quickly lighting up bright-red. That's hardly a shock.

"No! No, not… er, nobody wants you to be in the newspaper, or anything…" I explain quickly, scratching behind my head with discomfort. She is still here, so at least that's something. "It's just that some stuff has been going on in the library, and I know you kind of spend a lot of time in here, so…"

"Oh. I-I, um…"

"I'm sorry. You don't have to. Sorry."

I wave her off, but Hanako seems alarmed by my reaction, like she's done something wrong. I'm half-expecting her to find an excuse to leave, but instead she seems almost emboldened by it.

"No. That's okay…" She shakes her head solemnly as though scolding herself, then looks straight up at me. "I- if I can help you, I'd like to…"

Hey, maybe I'm better at this than I thought.

"It's just that some library books have gone missing, so Yuuko wants to find the thief so she doesn't get in trouble. We're writing a story on it."

"Oh… st- stealing books? I… don't know anything about that…"

She seems briefly panicked, and looks at my face again, though she seems to relax a little at the sight of it. I was trying to make it clear that I'm not accusing her, but the possibility still seems to put her slightly on-edge. Even still, I never expected to get remotely this far with her, so as far as I'm concerned, things are going pretty well.

"That's okay. I wouldn't expect you to know the thief or anything. I was more just wondering if you might have seen anything while you were hanging around in the library."

"Oh." She ponders that for a moment. "I don't know… I- I don't watch people that much."

I'm already pushing it, but I can't help myself from continuing. "Maybe just people who seemed like they were in a rush to leave, and didn't check out the books they were carrying?"

Disappointed, Hanako looks at the ground, resting her book on her legs and folding her hands over it. "I- I'm sorry; I don't know… people hurry out sometimes, but I haven't looked to see if they ch- check their books out. I can keep an eye out… if you want…"

"Really? You'd do that for us?" I glance down at my mostly-empty notepad. That actually sounds like it may be promising. "So you wouldn't mind if I came back some other time and talked to you about this again?"

Hearing the proposition framed like that, she suddenly seems less than enthusiastic about it, but she nods regardless.

Which means I just found myself an informant. Natsume would be proud, I'm sure.

"There's a list of books that have gone missing so far; you may want to take a look," I explain, sliding the sheet over Hanako's open book. "If you want a place to look, this might be handy to know."

"O- okay, I'll just use this, and… if I see something… I- I guess I can…" Hanako gets a bit quieter as she goes on, like she suddenly wants to back out.

I almost invite her to, but I stop myself to avoid sounding patronizing. After all, she knows that she doesn't have any obligation to this, and if I point it out it may just embarrass her.

I still have to say something, though, so I rest my hands on my lap and do my best to be gentle. "Um, Hanako, is… is everything alright…?"

She remains still for a long time, not making any sudden movements and certainly not looking up at me.

"If you want to be left alone, I'll…"

"N- no. That's… p- please don't go because of me."

Hanako lowers her book a little and shoots a glance upward, her face suddenly plastered with a guilty expression. Something is clearly going on with her right now, but I don't have any idea what, and I definitely can't ask.

I speak again, albeit tentatively. "Are you going to class today?"

She gives a very slight, almost unnoticeable nod.

Taking that as a response, I continue. "Are you waiting for Lilly?"

She takes a very obvious pause, and then she shakes her head, even more subtly.

Well, that probably explains why she's acting so strangely. I wonder if there's something going on between them. They don't exactly seem to me like the type to have fights, but what do I know?

"…If you want, I could walk with you this morning…" I continue, opening my hands.

Blushing very conspicuously out of embarrassment, Hanako averts her eyes as she tries to respond to that. "Um…"

I stand to spare her the trouble of coming up with an excuse. "Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll see you around."

"No, you can stay." She speaks very sharply to stop me from leaving, but shrinks in her seat again when it's clear that she has my attention. "I- I mean, I'll just be here reading until class starts, but you can. I- if you want."

To be honest, I'd rather not; I would have liked an excuse to get out of this conversation. She doesn't even seem like she wants me here- more like she sees my presence as some kind of necessary evil. But all the same, it's a pretty transparent request for me to stay, and I'm not stupid, so I take a seat again and grab one of the books off the shelf to kill a little time before class starts. I suppose, at the very least, I owe her this, given that she's agreed to help me with my newspaper business.

Hanako doesn't speak to me again for a long time, only calling my name once to return the inventory list to me before returning to her book. She's obviously more comfortable with silence, and she becomes a lot more relaxed when we stop talking to each other, but I still can't help but notice that she seems to like having me around when we aren't talking about anything. It hardly means that we're friends now, but compared to the first conversation we had in the library I'd say this was pretty successful. It's easier not to be on edge around her when I'm not worried she's going to bolt at any moment, which I am shocked she never tried to do today.

Eventually the bell does ring to signal that we need to get to class… just when I started to get immersed in the book I was reading, of course. Hanako stands without saying anything to me and takes off walking, but before she gets out of the corner by the bookshelves I see her glance over her shoulder at me to make sure I'm following along.

The walk to the classroom itself is actually pretty short, but Hanako manages to drag it out impressively, sidestepping awkwardly over the tiled floor like she stepped in something. It seems like a weird thing to point out, so I keep it to myself, but I still can't help but feel like I should be trying harder to make conversation. She makes no such attempts, though, and as such we end up simply quietly walking side-by-side.

She briefly pauses when we get to the classroom door, and I step in first to hold the door for her, which she seems to appreciate.

"Well. This is it." I rest my arms at my sides, still holding the clipboard in one hand. "I'll, uh, see you around, Hanako."

"O- okay… I'll s- see you later, Hisao…"

With a tiny smile- more like she's proud of herself than herself than anything else- Hanako makes her way to the back of the room, settling in next to Naomi's still-empty seat. Another chair over, Natsume- who has apparently finished her own work for the morning- raises an eyebrow at me, I assume for coming in with Hanako.

I tap on my clipboard with one finger, just to remind her who sent me off to run errands in the first place. I may not have found anything concrete yet, but now I have an informant to stake out the library for me, so Natsume can rest easy as far as the newspaper is concerned.

That actually wasn't so bad after all. Hanako's a nice girl… even though she kind of seems like she doesn't want anything to do with me. I should really try to be less judgmental. I suppose I'll put that on my to-do list.

Shizune and Misha seem to be doing a good enough job of distracting each other when I take my seat, so I don't bother to get involved outside of a brief hello, instead setting down the clipboard on my desk and sifting through my bag to retrieve Saturday's homework. It's been a long morning, and the coffee I drank an hour ago is really the only reason I'm not falling asleep at my desk.

The door to the classroom opens, and in walks a familiar, chipper-looking blonde girl, unusually well made-up but dressed up in the bland girls' uniform again.

I just remembered why I got up so damn early in the first place.

Naomi acknowledges Natsume briefly before meandering to my desk, and I raise a hand to greet her. We had quite a day yesterday, and I think we are both a little uncertain of how we are going to be interacting in public from now on.

Smirking a little, Naomi drums her fingers on my desk and prepares to say something, but stops herself as she glances over at Shizune and Misha, who as of now barely even seem to notice her presence.

After a pause, she comes to a decision and makes sharp eye contact with me, smiling. "Hey, Hisao."

"…Hey."

"You been working on the newspaper?" she asks curiously, tapping one finger on the clipboard.

"Yep. I can tell you about it later, if you want."

She puffs out her cheeks and shoots a quick, wary look in the other direction. "We'll do lunch?"

"Uh. Yeah."

She nods a few times, then takes her hand off of my desk, returning it to her side. "Okay. Lunch, then."

"Okay. See you then."

"See you."

Apparently satisfied with that, she returns to her desk and starts a conversation with Natsume, though they're too far for me to overhear it. Mutou shows up not long afterward, anyway.

I'm not sure what that was about, but I'm happy to see that she doesn't feel like making a scene this morning.

Maybe she's being quiet because she doesn't want to draw attention to our relationship?

…Wow, I can't think of a more obvious giveaway than that.


End file.
